SCO foreign ministers meet highlights| Pak FM Bhutto meets Russian counterpart Lavrov

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting. 

Earlier on Thursday, Bhutto said he was very happy to participate and hoped that the SCO meeting would be fruitful. 

"Welcomed FM Bakhtiyor Saidov of Uzbekistan on his first visit to India in this capacity. Appreciated Uzbekistan’s strong support for India’s SCO presidency.Also recognized our long standing multilateral cooperation. Confident our bilateral partnership in different domains will continue to grow," Indian EAM S Jaishankar tweeted. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar praised the dynamics of cooperation in key areas of the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries.

"The intention to further strengthen coordination to develop common approaches within the framework of interaction at the most important international platforms, including the SCO, BRICS, the UN and the G20 was confirmed," the ministry said. 

"A detailed discussion with State Councillor and FM Qin Gang of China on our bilateral relationship. Focus remains on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas. Also discussed SCO, G20 and BRICS," Indian EAM S Jaishankar tweeted. 

The bilateral talks between Indian EAM S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign minister Qin Gang have ended.

Iran and Belarus, who are observer countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), could soon become full-time members of the charter as the decision is under consideration for now, the news agency ANI reported on Thursday citing an official. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that Islamabad is committed to playing its part to advance the shared values of peace and stability in the SCO region. 

Prime Minister Sharif added that his country's decision to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting in India's Goa reflects Islamabad's commitment to the SCO charter and multilateralism. 

Indian EAM S Jaishankar is holding bilateral talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of SCO meeting.

This meeting comes after EAM Jaishankar held bilateral talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday held bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting. 

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto landed in Goa on Thursday to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting. Speaking to media, Foreign Minister Bhutto said, "'' I am very happy - I am here leading my Pakistani delegation - We hope this SCO meeting will be fruitful.''

Acknowledging that this is the first time that India has assumed the SCO presidency, after joining the Organization in 2017, as a full Member State, in a briefing on Thursday, MEA Secy Dammu Ravi said the period of India’s presidency will culminate in the SCO Heads of State Summit which is scheduled in July in Delhi.

"As you are aware, PM Modi has articulated India’s priorities for the SCO Chair with the theme of “Towards a SECURE SCO”. The acronym SECURE was given by PM at the 2018 Qingdao Summit of SCO and it will lay down the main focus areas under our ongoing chairmanship," he said.

"There is already an agreement reached at the last SCO Summit to create two new India-led mechanisms on Startups and Innovations and Traditional Medicine," the Secy added. 

WION's sources say that a total of 15 decisions are expected from the SCO foreign ministers' meet on Friday. Sources also said that India has emphasised on the use of English at SCO. Sources indicated that during the SCO FMs meet, there will be discussions on exchanging opinions regarding regional and global issues, as well as other topics of common interest, such as the reform and modernization of the organization. 
 

Ahead of arriving in India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari issued a departure statement saying he looks forward to holding bilateral talks with his counterparts in SCO member nations. 

Watch his departure statement here: 

India’s SCO chairmanship 2023 is being held under the theme of ‘SECURE-SCO’. The platform is crucial to promote multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region. It is a significant forum for India to boost its ties with the countries in the region. 
 

Russian FM Lavrov arrives in India.