Pak FM Bilawal Bhutto rules out Indo-Pak bilateral talks during SCO meet

Islamabad, April 20 Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari confirmed on Thursday that he would represent Pakistan in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting scheduled to be held in Goa on May 4-5, media reports said.

Bilawal also announced to consult with all the political parties for their inputs on his visit to India, Samaa TV reported.

He said all members of the regional body have realised the importance of SCO and it would yield positive results.

On India-Pakistan bilateral relations, the Foreign Minister said that SCO rules are clear that bilateral issues cannot be taken up at the summit, Samaa TV reported.

Sharing Pakistan's past experience at the SCO summit in Uzbekistan, Bilawal said the country has not held any bilateral talks in the past as well.

Earlier on Thursday, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, had formally announced that Bilawal will be travelling to Goa to participate in the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting scheduled on May 4-5.

The visit holds massive importance as Bilawal will be the first Pakistan Foreign Minister to visit India after a gap of nearly 12 years. The last Foreign Minister to visit India was Hina Rabbani Khar in July 2011.

In January, India had extended an invitation to the Pakistan Foreign Minister along with all other member states of the SCO to attend the meeting.

"Bilawal Bhutto's visit to India would be seen as an ice-breaking move. It will be symbolically significant. Though it may not bring any dramatic changes in bilateral relationships," said Kamran Yousaf, a senior political analyst in Pakistan.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organisation.

It is the world's largest regional organisation in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 60 per cent of the area of Eurasia, 40 per cent of the world population, and more than 30 per cent of global GDP, Samaa TV reported.