EAM S Jaishankar to visit Pakistan on Oct 15-16 for SCO Summit

External affairs minister S Jaishankar will visit Pakistan on October 15-16 to attend a meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This will be the first visit by an Indian minister to the neighbouring country since 2016.

In 2016, home minister Rajnath Singh had attended a SAARC meet in Pakistan. The then external affairs minister had visited Pakistan for a multilateral meeting in 2015.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday confirmed the visit, but no information is currently available on the possibility of bilateral meetings during the visit. The Chinese side is expected to be represented by foreign minister Wang Yi.


"Pakistan's cross-border terrorism policy will never succeed. And it can have no expectation of impunity. On the contrary, actions will certainly have consequences. The issue to be resolved between us is now only the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan. And of course the abandonment of Pakistan's longstanding attachment to terrorism," Jaishankar said at the United Nations General Assembly recently.

Maldives President Muizzu to visit India

MEA has announced that Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu will travel to India on a state visit from October 6 to 10. He had earlier visited India in June to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the prime minister and the council of ministers.

Officials said that Muizzu will meet President Droupadi Murmu and hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. The Maldivian leader will also visit Mumbai and Bengaluru where he will attend business events.

"The visit...is testimony to the importance that India attaches to its relations with the Maldives and is expected to lend further momentum to cooperation and robust people-to-people ties between the two countries," officials said.