Pakistan pulls out of SCO meet after India objects to incorrect map

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 21

Pakistan pulled out of a meeting of military medical professionals organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) after the Indian side objected to its use of maps that showed Kashmir as its territory.

This issue has affected several virtual SCO meetings over several years, the most notable being NSA Ajit Doval’s walkout after his Pakistan counterpart sat for a virtual meeting with a “new’’ political map that showed Kashmir and Junagadh as part of its territory.

On Tuesday, the Indian side again objected to the Pakistan side again using an inaccurate map to depict its borders. At this the Pakistan side decided not to attend the conference on “SCO Armed Forces Contribution in Military Medical, Healthcare, and Pandemics”.

The seminar was meant to share best practices in military medical, healthcare, and pandemic preparedness. The topic was chosen based on the efforts made by various armed services in combating Covid by supplying isolation units, emergency healthcare equipment, and aiding in vaccination programmes in isolated places.

Recent SCO line meetings have been relatively uneventful. On March 14, Pakistan’s Power Minister K Dastgir Khan had virtually attended the Energy Ministers meeting. On the same day, Pakistan attended a SCO meeting on shared Buddhist heritage and a SCO Workshop on HADR, Risk Mitigation and Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, both in Delhi.

On March 15, Pakistan’s new Charge d’Affaires Salman Sharif attended a meeting of Heads of Ministries and Departments of SCO member states responsible for the development of physical culture and sports. And on March 17, Pakistan attended the SCO Tourism meet in Kashi, India virtually.

On March 10, Pakistan had reversed its decision not to participate in a meeting of SCO Chief Justices after initially deciding not to participate. However, Pakistan downgraded its participation by a notch and instead of the Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial who had “scheduling issues”, his brother judge Muneeb Akhtar participated in the conference via video link.

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