Islamabad: Pakistan’s foreign minister will attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers in India next month, the foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

This will be the first visit by a top Pakistani government official to India in nearly a decade.

“Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be leading the Pakistan delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers being held on May 4-5, 2023 in Goa, India,” said the foreign office spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch. She added that the Pakistani foreign minister is attending the SCO CFM meeting at the invitation of his Indian counterpart and the current chair of SCO CFM, S. Jaishankar.

The SCO is a regional political and security bloc whose members include China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

It also has several observer members, and dialogue partners including Saudi Arabia.

“Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO Charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” the foreign office spokesperson said.

“Pakistan continues to participate in SCO meetings in keeping with our longstanding commitment to SCO.”

Pakistan and India have had strained relations for a long time, but there is hope that the upcoming visit could be a significant move toward normalisation.

The previous Pakistani foreign minister to visit India was Hina Rabbani Khar in July 2011, who is now serving as the minister of state for foreign affairs and is the deputy of Bhutto Zardari in the ministry.