Indian FM likely to come face to face in Moscow with Chinese, Pakistani counterparts amid border tensions

ISLAMABAD: At a time when New Delhi is having estranged relations with Islamabad and Beijing, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to encounter Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Moscow.

A meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the eight-member bloc is being held from Sept 9 to 10 to prepare the agenda for the next summit.

The SCO-CFM is the highest forum of SCO after the Council of Heads of State (CHS) and the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) that deliberates on important regional and global issues and considers documents for approval and adoption by CHG.

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FM Qureshi will have bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CFM, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office without naming officials that he will meet.

Before departing for Moscow, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he would discuss with his Russian counterpart the construction of a gas pipeline due to be built by Russia and stretching 1,100km from Lahore to the port city of Karachi.

“Islamabad sees prospects of a long-term and multidimensional partnership with Moscow,” he said adding that peace in Afghanistan is also an important issue that would be discussed during his meetings with other foreign ministers.

"Pakistan has been actively working to achieve SCO’s multi-sectoral agenda through various mechanisms," the FO said.

"The Moscow SCO-CFM will consider more than 20 documents for subsequent adoption in the SCO Council of Heads of State," it added. 

"It will also adopt a Joint Communiqué reflecting member states’ unified stance on important regional and international issues."