Jaishankar to take part at SCO FM meet, Pak's Bilawal also attending

New Delhi: Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Foreign Ministers meet in Uzbekistan scheduled for July 28-29.

It would be the first time when Jaishankar will be meeting in person with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto who took the charge after the formation of the new Shehbaz Sharif government.

The first leg of the SCO summit, comprising an international conference on Afghanistan, was held on July 25-26, while the meeting of the Foreign Ministers will be held on July 28-29.

After the formation of the Sharif government, Bilawal Bhutto had expressed his desire to establish friendship with India again. However, there is no sign of a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SCO meet yet. As far as talks with Pakistan are concerned, India has consistently maintained that terror and talks cannot go together.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar's participation in the SCO is yet to be officially announced. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also attend the meeting.

Jaishankar is likely to meet his Chinese counterpart to review the outcome of the recent 16th round of Corp Commander-level talks to resolve the standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

The India-China talks, if taking place, would also pave the way for a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as they are expected to attend the SCO summit on September 15 and 16 in Samarkand.