SCO: Sushma, Qureshi, Pulwama and Sweets?

TNN Bureau. Updated: 5/23/2019 7:48:30 AM

KYRGYZSTAN: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi exchanged pleasantries during a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here on Wednesday and sat next to each other during a joint call on Kyrgyz president, amid strained ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
At the meeting, India spoke about the Pulwama terror attack and said the subsequent terror strikes in neighbouring Sri Lanka had made it more determined to fight the scourge firmly.
Swaraj, while attending the SCO Foreign Ministers's conference, said that India's wounds of the February 14 Pulwama attack were "still raw" when the ghastly terror attacks happened in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
"Our heart goes out to our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka, who have recently witnessed the ghastly act of terrorism. Our wounds of Pulwama attack were still raw and the news from the neighbourhood has made us more determined to fight firmly and resolutely against this menace," she said.
The SCO is an eight-member organisation comprising India, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan and Pakistan.
She also batted that SCO must support the member countries' candidatures for the non-permanent membership of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the years 2021-2022 and 2027-2028.
However, highlight of the meeting was "informal dialogue" between Swaraj and Qureshi as claimed by Pakistani media, which the MEA sources played down as “only exchange of pleasantries.”
Pakistani media reported that two leaders sat next to each other during a multilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers.
“Today (I) met Sushma Ji. She had a complaint that we sometimes talk in a bitter manner. She brought sweets today so we could also speak sweetly," Qureshi was quoted as saying by the Foreign Office, reported Dawn.
"We made it clear to her that we want all the matters resolved through dialogue, and that Prime Minister Imran Khan had said in his very first speech that if India takes one step forward, we would take two steps forward.
"Even today we are ready for a dialogue," he added.
According to the photos published by the Pakistani media, Swaraj and Qureshi were seen seated next to each other.
On being asked about the Swaraj-Qureshi meeting, the MEA sources said the two leaders only exchanged pleasantries.
"There was no meeting between them," they said.
The picture of the two leaders is from a joint call on on Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, they said.
They said the Pakistani media report that the two leaders were seated next to each other at the SCO meeting is "factually incorrect and misleading".
"The seating arrangement at SCO follows the Russian alphabet system which does not put India and Pakistan together. This is a standard practise at SCO meetings," they added.
Swaraj arrived here in the Kyrgyz capital on Tuesday to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting.
India was granted the membership of the SCO along with Pakistan in 2017.
Earlier in Islamabad prior to his departure, Qureshi said besides addressing the inaugural session of the regional forum, he would also hold meetings with his counterparts from other countries.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the February 14 Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group which killed 40 CRPF personnel.
Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.
The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an Indian pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.


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