DNA

ISLAMABAD, OCT 15: In a rare exchange between the leaders of the arch-rival neighbours, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar shook hands as the former received foreign dignitaries at a dinner hosted for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders.

Jaishankar arrived in Islamabad for the SCO summit earlier today, marking the first visit by someone holding this office to the neighbouring nation in nearly a decade. Islamabad is hosting the 23rd meeting of the SCO’s Council of Heads of Government (CHG) with stringent security measures are in place to ensure the event proceeds smoothly.

Indian FM’s plane landed just before 3:30pm at an airbase near the capital Islamabad, a foreign office official said, as TV footage showed him receiving a bouquet of flowers from children.

Jaishankar was among nearly a dozen leaders participating in the gathering in Islamabad, which was culminating with the main event on Wednesday.

It has been nearly a decade since a foreign minister from Pakistan’s arch-rival India visited as relations remain frosty between the two nuclear powers.

Both sides have said no bilateral meeting is planned.

Relations between the two countries have gone through periods of thaw from time to time but have been largely frozen since Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties in 2019 following abrogation of Article 370 — revoking special status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).