SCO breakthrough.

The officers from the armed forces of Pakistan attending the SCO meeting in New Delhi is a welcome breakthrough. Notwithstanding the tense relations between India and Pakistan, the fact that international diplomacy took a leap forward, and Islamabad sending in its military officials to India signifies farsightedness. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which comprises China, Russia and Central Asian states, is a valuable forum where to this day India and Pakistan had not been on the same wavelength, and this Delhi moot making inroads will go a long way in setting in a detente. One hopes the goodwill generated will graduate into further high-level interactions, wherein the defence and foreign ministers too air-dash to India to further the envelope of strategic cooperation at the multilateral level.

Pakistan has always advocated for a negotiated solution to the bilateral disputes with India. Moreover, it shifted its foreign policy goalpost from geopolitics to geo-economics, and is eager to see India respond to its initiatives. And when it comes to regional cooperation, Islamabad has allowed Delhi to use its territory for transit in providing humanitarian...

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