Islamabad, June 25, 2025: The Foreign Office has firmly dismissed media speculation about a possible meeting between Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Qingdao, China.
In an official statement on Wednesday, the Foreign Office confirmed that Minister Asif will represent Pakistan at the two-day SCO event but emphasized that no bilateral meeting with the Indian delegation is scheduled.
Contrary to this, some Turkish media outlets had reported the likelihood of the first face-to-face interaction between the defence ministers of the two South Asian rivals since their recent military confrontation. According to those reports, Rajnath Singh was expected to hold sideline meetings with his counterparts from China, Russia, and other member states, suggesting the possibility of informal exchanges.
Government sources in Islamabad confirmed that Minister Asif had arrived in Qingdao to attend the SCO forum, while Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is also present in China with a high-level delegation.
The SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting is expected to deliberate on pressing regional and global security issues, including counter-terrorism cooperation and military-to-military collaboration among member states.
The diplomatic clarifications come against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Pakistan and India following a deadly incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). In April, 26 tourists were killed in Pahalgam, with India placing blame on Pakistan. This led to cross-border hostilities, culminating in a brief military conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations.
India carried out unprovoked attacks over three days, resulting in civilian casualties, before Pakistan launched a retaliatory operation dubbed Bunyan-um-Marsoos. Pakistan reportedly downed six Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafales, and dozens of drones. The hostilities ended after 87 hours with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement on May 10.
Since then, both Islamabad and New Delhi have intensified their diplomatic engagements with key global and regional players to present their respective narratives on the crisis.
Separately, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor, Lt Gen Asim Malik, participated in the 20th meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Councils of SCO Member States held on Tuesday in Beijing. During his visit, he held talks with senior Chinese officials and other counterparts, reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace and stability and highlighting its contributions as a net regional stabilizer.
