Great churning in Islamabad! India, China and Russia also knocked on the invitation of Pakistan to attend the SCO meeting.

A very big and shocking news is coming out from the geopolitics and diplomatic corridors of the Asian region. India has also registered its active participation in the important meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) being held in the capital Islamabad, hosted by arch rival neighboring country Pakistan. The arrival of the Indian delegation in Islamabad is being considered a big message on the international stage amid the long-running standoff between the two countries due to serious issues like terrorism, Kashmir and cross-border tension. Apart from India, top diplomats and representatives of Russia, China and other Central Asian member countries have also arrived to participate in this high-profile meeting. The eyes of the whole world are on regional security and economic corridors. The main agenda of this SCO meeting organized by Pakistan is to increase economic cooperation among the member countries, improve regional connectivity and jointly deal with the security challenges in the Eurasian region. According to sources, in the first round of the meeting, there was an in-depth discussion on removing trade barriers and making a common strategy against terrorism. As always, India has strongly raised the issue of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity in connectivity projects at this international forum, which is considered very important in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and CPEC. Is this the beginning of melting ice between India and Pakistan? International affairs analysts believe that India and Pakistan sitting together on this multilateral platform can become a means of melting the ice between the two countries. However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has already clarified that this is a multilateral regional meeting and participation in it is in no way an indication of resumption of bilateral talks with Pakistan. Despite this, there is a lot of speculation in the diplomatic circles of Islamabad, Delhi, Beijing and Moscow about the in-camera discussions of this meeting and informal meetings (pull-aside meetings) of the leaders. There will be a direct impact on the equations of Eurasia and South Asia. At a time when the world is struggling with the Russia-Ukraine crisis and Middle East tensions, this joint platform of the countries of Eurasia and South Asia becomes very special from the point of view of global power balance. In the meeting, India has demonstrated its independent and strong foreign policy amidst the rivalry between Russia and China. Strategic think-tanks of the entire country including Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai are keeping an eye on what new guidelines regarding terrorism and regional trade emerge in the joint declaration that will be issued after the end of this meeting.