No Pak, Russia FMs meeting at SCO raises eyebrows

Bilawal, Lavrov interacted informally over dinner but no bilateral meeting could be scheduled

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of all member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent, except his Indian and Russian counterparts.

A meeting with India’s S Jaishanker was not on the cards but no bilateral meeting with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov raised eyebrows as talks between Pakistan and Russian diplomats at the sidelines of such regional forums were a routine.

Significantly, the Foreign Office in a statement earlier announced that Foreign Minister Bilawal would be holding bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of China, Russia and other SCO members, except India. But there was no meeting between Bilawal and Lavrov though the former met foreign ministers of all other member states.

Sources told The Express Tribune that a meeting between Pakistani and Russian foreign ministers was tentatively scheduled provided delay in the departure of Lavrov from Tashkent.

The sources insisted that Bilawal and Lavrov did interact informally over dinner for SCO foreign ministers but because of time constraints no bilateral meeting could be scheduled.

They insisted that there was no need to read much about it, but given the recent developments and Russia being at the centre of domestic political situation in Pakistan, both sides skipping a bilateral meeting cannot be ignored altogether.

Had the meeting taken place between Pakistani and Russian foreign ministers, this would have been the first high-level interaction between the two countries since the change of government in Islamabad in April.

Pakistan’s relationship with Russia was at the heart of controversy when former prime minister Imran khan was removed from power through a vote of no confidence earlier this year.

The ousted prime minister has maintained that he was removed from power through a US conspiracy since he wanted to pursue an independent foreign policy, particularly one that deepens ties with Russia.

The basis of his claims was a classified diplomatic cable that detailed a meeting between the Pakistani ambassador in Washington and a senior Biden administration official in March.

Pakistan’s then Ambassador Asad Majeed wrote back to the Foreign Office, conveying the Biden administration’s serious reservations over Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow.

As per the diplomatic cable, US Under-secretary of State and South Asia Donald Lu informed the Pakistani envoy that the Biden administration was not happy with Imran’s decision to visit Moscow at a time when President Vladimir Putin was preparing for an invasion of Ukraine.

He then went on to say that Pakistan would have to face the dire consequences if a vote of no confidence against Imran did not succeed.

The country’s top decision-making body on national security met twice—once when Imran was still the prime minister and second time when he was ousted from power—concluding that there was no evidence to suggest that the US was behind the vote of no confidence against the PTI government.

But Imran is convinced that there was interference and has kept demanding a judicial probe into the controversy.

Russia officials and the state media have endorsed Imran’s allegations that he was punished for pursuing an independent foreign policy.

Against this backdrop, all eyes were on the SCO meeting that whether Foreign Minister Bilawal would meet his Russian counterpart.

Observers believe that it is inconceivable that Bilawal held meetings with all other SCO foreign ministers but could not schedule a meeting with his Russian counterpart.

Meanwhile, Bilawal following his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister on Thursday held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. He separately held a meeting with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, discussing the current Afghan situation and reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment for a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.