International: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shook hands and exchanged greetings in a rare occurrence on Tuesday (October 15) as the latter received foreign dignitaries at a dinner hosted for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders in Islamabad. The visuals showed the two leaders exchanging words while also shaking hands with each other, before Jaishankar walked away as Sharif showed him the way. The EAM arrived in the Pakistani capital city today to lead a delegation at the SCO Council of Heads of Government Meeting. This marked the first visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to Pakistan in 9 years.

Image Source : ANIExternal Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif

Jaishankar arrives in Islamabad

Jaishankar's aircraft landed at the Nur Khan airbase on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital city at around 3:30 pm (local time) and he was greeted by senior Pakistani officials. It is the first time in nearly nine years that India's foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

The last Indian Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj.

She had travelled to Islamabad to attend the 'Heart of Asia' conference on Afghanistan held from December 8-9, 2015.