NSA Ajit Doval to share stage with Pakistan counterpart Yusuf at SCO meeting next week

With tensions between India and Pakistan toning down recently after a ceasefire was announced by the military, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will be participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting next week in Dushanbe. The meeting next week will see in-person participation of NSAs from the eight member nations unlike the virtual meeting last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SCO meeting will also be attended by Doval's counterpart and Pakistan's NSA Moeed Yusuf. 

The two NSAs will be sharing the aisle for the first time since Ajit Doval furiously stormed out of the SCO meeting last year following Pakistan's act of showing a 'fictious' map violating the agenda of the gathering. In a statement after the meeting, the External Affairs Ministry had said that the Pakistani NSA deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan had been propagating. 

“This was in blatant disregard to the advisory by the host against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting. After consultation with the host, the Indian side left the meeting in protest at that juncture,” he said.

Tajikistan to chair SCO 2021

Meanwhile, there is no confirmation of India and Pakistan holding a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SCO meeting next week. The SCO which has eight members namely, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will meet under the chairmanship of Tajikistan. 

The meeting comes amidst the soft stance taken by Pakistan, hinting at the mending of ties. Prime Minister Imran Khan, while repeating his rhetoric over Article 370, put the onus on India to initiate the first step for improving bilateral relations. In February this year, India and Paksitan DGMOs announced that they had agreed to a ceasefire along the LoC which has been maintained so far. 

PM Modi Sends Stern Message

At the SCO summit last year, where leaders of member nations gathered virtually, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asserted that India has had strong cultural and historical ties with SCO countries, remarking that attempts to bring bilateral issues in the SCO agenda were 'unnecessary' and against the 'Shanghai spirit'. 

"It is unfortunate that there are unnecessary attempts to bring bilateral issues in the SCO agenda, which is in violation of SCO Charter and Shanghai spirit," the PM had said. PM Modi also sent a strong message to China and Pakistan stating that it was important to move forward while respecting one another's 'sovereignty and territorial integrity'.