EAM S Jaishankar to attend Commonwealth meet, no 'bilateral' with Pakistan

New Delhi, June 21

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will be in Kigali, Rwanda, for the Commonwealth Summit from Thursday, but no bilateral meeting has been fixed so far, say sources.

Besides the two, Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be present. Among other neighbours, Maldives will be represented by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Pakistani FM Bilawal Bhutto was to represent the country, but he opted not to travel due to personal issues. Had Bhutto travelled, there was a greater possibility of an interaction with Jaishankar since as per protocol Khar is a Minister of State though she has ample experience of negotiating with India during her stint as Foreign Minister during the Asaf Ali Zardari presidency.