Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari landed in Goa during his first visit to India in a rare occurrence that is happening for the first time in seven years. This is the first time in a long time that a Pakistani cabinet minister is setting foot on Indian soil.
Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz visited Amritsar in December 2016 for the Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan. However, he did not have any bilateral talks with the External Affairs Minister of India then. After that the relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated in such a way that since then no Pakistani foreign minister has got a chance to come to India.
Bilawal has arrived in India to attend the Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO comprises eight countries including India, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan.
This time India has got the responsibility of organizing the SCO and the Foreign Ministers of all these countries have reached India to participate in the SCO Summit. Pakistan is also a member of this organization, and therefore Bilawal Bhutto has also reached India to participate in this meeting on behalf of Pakistan.
Bilawal Bhutto became Pakistan's foreign minister in April 2022 at the age of just 33 and he is the youngest foreign minister of Pakistan, bringing a ray of hope for the country which is currently reeling from a financial and political crisis.
On December 15, 2022, Bilawal Bhutto made objectionable remarks against PM Narendra Modi in the United Nations Security Council. "Osama bin Laden is dead, but Butcher of Gujarat is still alive... And he is the Prime Minister of India. India gave a befitting reply to Bhutto's statement and the Ministry of External Affairs reminded Bilawal Bhutto of the 1971 war, in which more than 90 thousand soldiers of Pakistan surrendered to the Indian Army.
Similarly, in 2014, Bilawal made a statement on the Kashmir issue... He had said in front of his party workers that he “will take back the whole of Kashmir. I will not leave even an inch of it because Kashmir belongs only to Pakistan.”
Not only this, but Bilawal Bhutto has also raised the issue of Kashmir many times in the United Nations Security Council, but Pakistan has never been able to include this issue in the UN agenda. Bilawal himself has said that due to India's diplomacy, it has become very difficult for Pakistan to draw the world's attention to the Kashmir issue.
Call it India’s diplomacy or India’s strong position in world affairs that Bilawal Bhutto, who once used to slam India and its government, is now praising his neighbouring country and hoping for diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan.
The Pakistan foreign minister who had once said that his country will take back Kashmir is calling India a friend. He said, "During my visit, which focuses specifically on the SCO, I look forward to constructive discussions with my counterparts from friendly countries."
That is, till yesterday, Bilawal was making poisonous statements against India. He was comparing the head of an elected government to a terrorist but now Bilawal is feeling good to be in India, calling the country a friend, and this is the true meaning for diplomacy and the strength of India in the international community.
READ | Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto arrives in India to attend SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
