Islamabad: India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Tuesday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of Government (HoG) meeting. This visit, the first by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan since the late Sushma Swaraj's visit in 2015, comes at a time of frosty bilateral relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. While no formal bilateral meetings between India and Pakistan are planned during this visit, Jaishankar’s presence at the summit highlights the importance of multilateral diplomacy, regional security, and India’s strategic interests within the SCO framework.
This visit also plays a key role in India’s broader foreign policy, as the country navigates its complex relationships within Asia, particularly with China and Pakistan. At the same time, India continues to balance its role in both Eastern and Western-led global initiatives. Jaishankar's presence in Islamabad extends beyond mere optics; it reflects India’s ambitions to strengthen its influence in Central Asia, improve regional security, and leverage multilateral platforms like the SCO to further its national interests.
This diplomatic visit is significant due to the longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan, which have been strained by cross-border terrorism, territorial disputes, and a lack of direct engagement in recent years. India has maintained that it will not engage in bilateral talks with Pakistan until cross-border terrorism is addressed. The absence of formal talks during this visit reaffirms India's stance while demonstrating its commitment to multilateral diplomacy.
India views the SCO as an important platform for engagement with Central Asian countries, strengthening its counterterrorism efforts, and securing energy supplies. Founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and four Central Asian nations, the SCO has evolved from a regional security forum into a broader organization focusing on issues like counterterrorism, trade, and economic cooperation. India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, adding a new layer of complexity to the organization’s internal dynamics.
For India, Central Asia holds strategic importance due to its rich natural resources, including oil, gas, and uranium. These resources are vital for India's energy security, as the country imports over 85 per cent of its energy needs. Central Asia's reserves offer an opportunity for India to diversify its energy supply, reducing its dependence on the volatile Middle East. Kazakhstan, the world’s largest producer of uranium, is particularly critical to India’s civilian nuclear program, while Turkmenistan’s vast natural gas reserves can help meet India's growing energy demands.
India’s participation in the SCO aligns with its broader foreign policy of multi-alignment, which seeks to maintain relationships with both Eastern and Western powers. India’s active role in organizations like the SCO, BRICS, and the Quad demonstrates its ability to engage with diverse geopolitical groupings. While the Quad is often seen as an anti-China coalition focusing on the Indo-Pacific, the SCO allows India to work with China and Russia on regional issues, particularly security and counterterrorism.
This multi-alignment approach reflects India's ambition to emerge as a global leader, capable of balancing different geopolitical blocs and navigating competing interests. The SCO offers India an avenue to engage with its traditional rivals while pursuing its economic and security objectives.
of the key aspects of India’s engagement with the SCO is its participation in the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), which focuses on counterterrorism efforts. For India, which has faced terrorism threats from its western borders, involvement in RATS is crucial for intelligence sharing, coordinating counterterrorism activities, and addressing security challenges. With the rise of extremist groups in Central Asia, particularly after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the region’s security has become a priority for the SCO, making India’s participation even more important.
In addition to economic ties, India has sought to strengthen cultural and historical links with Central Asia, leveraging its shared Buddhist heritage to enhance diplomatic relations. Initiatives focused on traditional medicine, Buddhist sites, and agricultural cooperation highlight India’s use of soft power in its foreign policy.
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