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Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrived in India on Friday for a rare visit and was warmly welcomed there. In a speech in the southern state of Goa, Bhutto Zardari urged those present to refrain from “using terrorism as a diplomatic scoring weapon,” prompting a reaction from his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. “Pakistan’s credibility is dwindling faster than its foreign exchange reserves,” Jaishankar told journalists, referring to Pakistan’s troubled economy.
Bhutto’s speech “shows the mindset of this country,” Jaishankar added. The last visit to India by a senior Pakistani diplomat was in 2016. Since Pakistan seceded from India in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars.
In 2019, Pakistan suspended trade and diplomatic ties with India over the Kashmir border dispute after New Delhi enforced strict security conditions in the Indian-controlled part of the Muslim-majority region.
India regularly accuses Pakistan of supporting insurgents in Indian-administered Kashmir – which Islamabad denies. Five Indian soldiers were killed by explosive devices in Kashmir on Friday. The Indian army blamed suspected rebels holed up in a cave. AFP could not independently verify the incident.
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