The foreign ministers of Pakistan and India shook hands and exchanged greetings at a dinner hosted by the Indian government for the foreign ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries in Goa.

The encounter increased the hopes for a thaw in bilateral ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

It was expected that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar would have a moment to break the ice during a cultural programme after dinner tonight. What triggers such a possibility is the fact that media will be left out so that the leaders can have discussions in a relaxed environment, reported Munizae Jahangir who is in Goa.

Since media is kept at bay, the handshake and exchange of greetings could only be reported citing sources. We don’t have a photograph to capture the movement.

No meeting was scheduled between Bilawal and Jaishankar, however, the Pakistani foreign minister met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

The scion of the Bhutto dynasty is the first foreign minister to visit India in almost a decade. The foreign minister is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who heads the foreign ministers’ council of SCO, which is a regional political and security bloc whose members include Russia, China, India and Pakistan.

Both dignitaries are residing in the same hotel, Taj Exotica Resort, and Spa. India is the host of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, taking place from May 4 to 5.

Almost all Indian newspapers carried pieces on whether Bilawal’s visit to India would bring some ease to the tensions between the two countries.

Many political pundits have hailed the foreign minister’s visit as a “big step”, diverting all the focus from big regional players – Russia and China – on any interaction between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India.

While Bilawal did meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in the evening, no meeting is on the cards with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang as he is set to embark on a two-day official visit to Pakistan from May 5 to attend the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue.

“Finally, we have reached Goa, India for the SCO. Firstly, I would meet the Russian foreign minister and then my Uzbek counterpart. Later, there is dinner hosted for all foreign ministers where I will go,” Bilawal said shortly after he landed.

Pakistan cut off trade ties with its archrival after India unilaterally scrapped the autonomous status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir given under the Indian constitution.

All stakeholders have been taken into confidence over Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to India, junior minister Hina Rabbani Khar told Aaj News on April 29.

“There has been no opposition from any side and I think that shows everybody has the interest of the state at their heart,” she said at the Shaukat Piracha’s show Rubaroo in response to a query.

State Foreign Minister Khar was of the view that Bilawal’s visit has to be taken seriously. She clarified that Bilawal was going on a visit to India to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting. “The membership of SCO was obtained by overcoming bilateral differences,” she said

“No meeting was requested by Pakistan. In order to be on the negotiation table it is necessary to agree on the talks,” she said in response to a query pertaining to the impasse on meetings between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. “It takes two to tango in order to have the other side on the negotiation table.”