Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj will attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on May 21-22, 2019. Although the two foreign ministers may get an opportunity for a handshake, yet sources said so far there is no proposal for an official meeting between the two on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers.
"Foreign Minister Qureshi will attend the SCO foreign ministers level meeting and we also heard that Indian External Affairs Minister Swaraj will also be attending the meeting. But we haven't received any proposal from Indian side for a meeting between the two," said a senior official of the Foreign Office.
The foreign ministers of the two countries have not met for over three years now and a planned meeting in New York last September at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly could not be held.
The Indian side cancelled the planned meeting within 24 hours it was confirmed on the pretext of attacks in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan-based groups, and also on stamps issued by Pakistani postal service that glorified Kashmiri young fighter Burhan Wani.
The SCO's Council of Foreign Ministers will be followed by the SCO's Head of Government level meeting on June 14 and 15, 2019 at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and it is expected the newly elected Indian prime minister will be attending the summit, as results of the Indian elections are due to be declared on May 23 followed by appointment of a new premier.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to the sources, has not yet made any decision whether to attend the summit or not though Foreign Office has recommended to the Premier to avail the opportunity which will also provide prospects of meeting a number of heads of the governments of the SCO member countries including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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