Jaishankar to hold bilateral talks with Chinese, Russian counterparts but dialogue unlikely with Pak FM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Russia's Sergey Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa on Thursday on sidelines of a conclave of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid rapidly evolving regional security situation.

People familiar with preparations for conclave said re is no plan yet for a structured bilateral meeting between Jaishankar and Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhtutto-Zardari.  But y did not rule out a pull aside between two foreign ministers.

Qin, Lavrov, Bhutto-Zardari and foreign ministers of or SCO countries are arriving in Goa on Thursday to attend a crucial conclave of SCO that is taking place ahe of annual summit of grouping in first week of July.  India has been maintaining that Pakistan must show seriousness towards fighting terrorism and that talks and terror cannot go toger.

Bhutto-Zardari's trip to India will be first visit from Islamab since 2011. n Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar h visited India that year. Khar is currently serving as minister of state for foreign affairs.

In talks with Qin, Jaishankar is once again expected to convey that India-China ties cannot be normal unless re is peace in border areas, people familiar with matter said.

two-day SCO foreign ministerial meeting will begin with a gala reception at a luxury beach resort in Goa on Thursday while main deliberations will take place on Friday.

people cited above said Jaishankar will hold separate bilateral talks with his counterparts from almost all SCO countries. However, re is no clarity on such a meeting between Jaishankar and Bhutto-Zardari.

bilateral meeting between Jaishankar and Qin will be second one in last two months. Chinese foreign minister visited India in March to attend a meeting of G20 foreign ministers.

On sidelines of meeting, Jaishankar held talks with Qin during which he conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that state of India-China relations is "abnormal" because of lingering border row in eastern Lakh.

Last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu at a meeting that China's violation of existing border agreements "eroded" entire basis of ties between two countries and that all issues relating to frontier must be resolved in accordance with existing pacts.

meeting on April 27 took place in New Delhi on sidelines of a conclave of SCO defence ministers.

ties between India and China nosedived significantly following fierce clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked most serious military conflict between two sides in deces.

Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a standoff in a few friction points along Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Lakh for last three years though y disengaged in several places following a series of military and diplomatic talks.

India has been maintaining that relationship between two countries should be based on "three mutuals" -- mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests.

people cited above said Jaishankar and Russian foreign minister Lavrov in ir meeting are set to review overall bilateral ties with a focus on tre and commercial engagement.

India has been pressing Russia for urgently dressing tre imbalance that has been in favour of Moscow.

India's tre deficit with Russia jumped significantly in last few months after it procured significant volumes of discounted crude oil from that country in backdrop of Ukraine crisis.

people cited above said Lavrov will arrive in India as scheduled notwithstanding escalation in tension between Russia and Ukraine. Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of attacking Kremlin with drones overnight in an unsuccessful attempt to kill President Vlimir Putin.

talks between Jaishankar and Lavrov are also set to cover a number of issues relating to bilateral ties and regional situations, y said.

Jaishankar is also likely to hold separate bilateral talks with his counterparts from some or SCO countries on Friday.

India is hosting SCO in its capacity as grouping's chair.

people said foreign ministers will deliberate on overall challenges facing region in backdrop of current geo-political turmoil and state of bilateral ties between member nations would not impact discussions.

SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of largest transregional international organisations.

It was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.

India was me an observer at SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in ministerial-level meetings of grouping, which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in Eurasian region.

India has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.