External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar addressed a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Islamabad on Wednesday and asserted that trade and connectivity initiatives must recognise territorial integrity and sovereignty and it is essential to have an “honest conversation” on the lack of trust. Jaishankar’s visit marks the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan since 2015, despite ongoing tensions with China and Pakistan, which are key regional members of SCO. Jaishankar signalled that India is unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges in parallel if activities across borders are characterised by terrorism, extremism and separatism.

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