- Monday, March 03, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
An Indian diplomat on Thursday (30) took part in an Iftar dinner hosted by Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the diplomatic corps based in Islamabad, the country’s capital.
Pakistan’s Express Tribune cited sources to report that Bhutto Zardari, son of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, invited the Indian chargé d’affaires along with other diplomats in the capital and a senior Indian diplomat attended the dinner at the foreign office since the chargé d’affaires was not present in Pakistan after New Delhi accepted the invite.
The two South Asian neighbours generally avoid inviting each other to such events but the Indian diplomat’s presence at the Iftar dinner gives a hint that there might be a possibility of officials of the two countries engage at a higher level if Pakistani representatives attend the upcoming talks of defence and foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in India.
According to the Express Tribune report, the Pakistani foreign minister said while addressing the diplomatic corps that he was ready to accept that a lot of difficulties were of ‘our’ own making, referring collectively to policies that the previous government took in the economic field.
“We are facing economic consequences of certain decisions that are not in our control. People are facing the devastating impact of a climate catastrophe in the face of floods, in the occurrence of which they played little to no role at all. The younger generation especially, is facing the consequences of decisions that they did not make,” Bhutto Zardari, 34, was quoted as saying.
He maintained that the economic quagmire that has been caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is not only faced by Pakistan, but the entire world. “The geopolitical situation in the world as well has added to the growing list of consequences faced by the globe,” Bilawal added.
