Islamabad: Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that the government was making all-out efforts to accomplish the country’s journey from only being a nuclear power to becoming an economic power, Dawn reported. When asked about improving ties with India, Dar said: "It takes two to tango, can't be one way". He called upon India to "create an environment to help improve the relations".
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, FM Dar gave a roundup of the government’s efforts to bring economic stability and enhance Pakistan’s diplomatic footprints through bilateral and multilateral engagements with the latest one being the beginning of the country’s two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2025-26.
India-Pakistan relations
The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India's warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack. The relations further deteriorated after India on August 5, 2019, announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories. Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India after New Delhi abrogated Article 370.
India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such engagement.
Pakistan's then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend an in-person meeting of the foreign ministers of the SCO nations in Goa. It was the first visit of a Pakistani foreign minister to India in almost 12 years.
Jaishankar's Pakistan visit
Earlier last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a trip to Pakistan to attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. The much-debated event was held from October 15 to 16. It was the first time in nearly nine years that India's foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
The last Indian Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj. She had travelled to Islamabad to attend the 'Heart of Asia' conference on Afghanistan held on December 8-9, 2015. Jaishankar, then India's foreign secretary, was part of Swaraj's delegation.
Pakistan minister calls Jaishankar's visit "positive"
Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad as an "ice breaker". He said a pull-aside meeting took place between Jaishankar and Dar at a dinner reception hosted by Sharif at his residence for the SCO delegates. It was joined by Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and the brief exchanges figured to improving cricketing ties, according to the PTI sources. Naqvi is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Before departing from Islamabad, Jaishankar thanked PM Sharif and Foreign Minister Dar in a post on 'X' for the hospitality and courtesies and described the SCO conclave as "productive". "Departing from Islamabad. Thank PM @CMShehbaz, DPM & FM @MIshaqDar50 and the Government of Pakistan for the hospitality and courtesies," Jaishankar said. Two officials also referred to the external affairs minister's post on 'X' to say that his visit went off well and that it created a "refreshing" environment.
(With inputs from agency)
