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Indian Minister Dr Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad for the SCO Summit.

There is a consolation for bilateralism that Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will be visiting Islamabad's SCO Summit. It is, indeed, a breakthrough of sorts and that too after a decade of chillness in ties. Though the participation is meant for multilateralism, as India is a proactive member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the fact that New Delhi decided to send its second-in-command comes as a shot in the arm for furthering the interests of regional reconciliation, and at the same time buoy the mandate of geo-economics. Yet, it was an opportunity missed, per se, as far as huddling heads of governments was concerned if Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had taken the mantle of air-dashing to Pakistan to set the ball rolling.

The SCO, composed of 9 member states and 4 observers from Eurasia, is a valuable addition to trans-regionalism. This is why member states value its nomenclature and annual briefings, and has become a norm to rub shoulders, irrespective of bilateral estrangements. In case of India and Pakistan, it has been on a slow-pace but comes with the express intention to further the envelope of decency as the two sides value the prospective influence of China and the emerging Central Asian economies. Perhaps, this is why Bilawal Zardari as foreign minister attended last year's Goa moot, as respective PMs on previous summits had looked the other way in cold-blooded diplomacy.

Pakistan is hosting the SCO summit at a time when the mega-transregional project CPEC has entered its second phase, and the country is open to connectivity. That also forms a cornerstone of the Chinese flagship BRI, coupled with Islamabad's eagerness to become a member of a parallel multilateral alliance, BRICS. This is where India will be looked up to for a wiser diplomatic role, unlike the reactionary utterances from Mr Jaishankar who stated that "an era of uninterrupted dialogue is over." The Indian delegation, apart from addressing the SCO agenda, can take a leap forward by pushing for a thaw in bilateralism.