S Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, has labelled his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as “promoter, justifier and spokesperson of a terrorism industry”. Following the meeting of foreign ministers of member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa, Jaishankar remarked: “Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.” “Bhutto Zardari came as Foreign Minister of a SCO member state; that’s part of multilateral diplomacy and we don’t see anything more than that,” NDTV quoted the Indian foreign minister as saying. The SCO meeting was held in Goa, India, on May 4 and 5, and Bhutto Zardari arrived in India on Thursday. At the SCO Council, the two foreign ministers did not meet separately. In a clear swipe at Pakistan’s financial crisis, Jaishankar also remarked: “On terrorism, Pakistan’s credibility is depleting even faster than its forex reserves.” Read more: FM attends dinner hosted by Jaishankar in New York Jaishankar’s comments came after Bhutto Zardari warning against “weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring”, without naming India, during his address at the SCO summit.  

Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has reached Moscow. He is currently on a two-day official visit, on invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was received by senior officials of the Russian foreign ministry, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan and other embassy officials on Sunday (January 29, 2023) upon his arrival in Moscow, reports Pakistani newspaper Dawn. Read more: Pakistan's premier apologizes to nation for power outage The two foreign ministers are scheduled to meet today for official talks. The Pakistani foreign minister was quoted by Dawn as saying: “I’ve been invited to speak at the international luncheon of the annual National Prayer Breakfast and will make an in-and-out trip for that.” Meanwhile, as part of Pakistan’s effort to re-engage with the US, the foreign minister and Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar are expected to visit Washington soon. Read more: Pakistan orders malls to close early amid economic crisis Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is expected to visit New York to attend a UN-sponsored conference on Muslim women, being held on Pakistan’s initiative on March 8. He is also likely to attend another UN event in New York on March 15 to commemorate the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, as per Pakistani media report.