On Friday, May 5, the weather in Goa turned ‘cold’ when external affairs minister S Jaishankar ‘welcomed’ his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The two leaders exchanged namaste and a few words, but Minister Jaishankar was quick to show the Pakistani foreign minister the way forward after posing for photographs half-heartedly.
Jaishankar’s gesture triggered hilarious reactions from Indian netizens while the Pakistani are fuming for obvious reasons.
One Twitter user named Varun Kumar Rana shared a meme saying “Bilawal Bhutto be like: Gajab bejjati hai yaar (what an insult it is).”
One “Keh Ke Peheno” wrote, “haan chal theek hai ab nikal (yeah, its fine, now get lost).”
Another Twitter user named Subrat Saurabh lauded EAM Jaishankar for not shaking hands with the Pakistani foreign minister and wrote, “Just a namaste, no handshake..! Great move by Jaishankar ji. Aukaat dikhani jaruri hai inn bhikhariyon ko (It is important to show these beggars their place).”
Another one wrote, “Jaishankar sahab owned it with the coldest gesture!!”
While Indian users were amused by EAM Jaishankar’s cold gesture towards his Pakistani counterpart, several Pakistani netizens fumed and even trolled their own foreign minister.
One Pakistani Twitter user named Asfandyar Bhittani said that Bilawal Bhutto only roars at home and does not even get a handshake from the host in a bilateral meeting.
“Like Grandfather, like Grandson. Roars like a tiger at home and delivers “Suar k bachay” speeches on the fly, but doesn’t even get a handshake from the host, forget a bilateral meeting. A True Bhutto,” Bhittani tweeted.
Another one named Ali Salman wrote, “India’s EAM (External Affairs Minister) Dr S Jaishankar ‘warmly’ welcomes Pak FM Bilawal Bhutto for the meeting of the SCO-CFM in Goa, except the ‘warmth’ was completely missing! “
One Syed Hussaini wrote, “itni ba-izatti…Is hejary ny jana lazmi tha (Such an insult, was it necessary for this eunuch to go).”
One Sarmad Hussain compared the way Jaishankar represented India to the way Bhutto represented his country and wrote, “Nothing wrong with the Namaste but Bilawal is a live meme. Jaishankar on the one hand represents the lean and mean India of today. Bilawal is the typical ironic representation of an overburdened, self-loathing Pakistan, trying to save grace by breathing in and keeping a high neck,” Hussain tweeted.
Another one named Saleem Wattoo opined that Bilawal Bhutto was somewhat chased like a beggar and wrote, “It has been dealt with in a very dirty way. As they chase away the beggars. Let’s go. And Balu Rani’s dressing.”
One Farukh wrote, “And quickly told him: jaa dafa ho. In all seriousness, I admire the statecraft of the Indians.”
Another Pakistani named Farhan Khan wrote, “It could easily be seen as Jaishankar telling him to “Get Lost” in that direction.”
One Raquif Ali Rana tweeted, “Terrible optics & body language.FM didn’t bother to have reasonable eye contact. Certainly not a body language of a welcoming host. Doesn’t even smile for the picture, no handshake & shown the way to leave. @BBhuttoZardari does namastay, looks dominated & desperate. Sad.”
Apart from this, several Pakistanis were also outraged over Bilawal Bhutto doing a namaste to EAM Jaishankar, as some alleged that Bilawal has brought shame to Pakistan by doing namaste, a Hindu way of greeting people while representing a Muslim country—Pakistan.
One Tayyeb Naseer wrote, “What a shame it is for all the Muslims in Pakistan, this Hindu kid @BBhuttoZardari instead of doing namaste should have at least greeted by putting his hand on his chest in good gesture keeping in mind he represents Pakistan which is a Muslim nation. Shame.”
One Arsalan Shakeel was upset over Bilawal Bhutto’s namaste to EAM Jaishankar as he wrote, “Kia bakwas hai yar sir hila deta Namaste ki kia need thi (what nonsense is this, he should’ve just nodded his head what was the need to do namaste).”
“Politicla Raza” tweeted, “What the heck why is he replying namastay with namastay what is happening where is Forign office why he was not trained for not making a fool out of himself and us back home. This guy is representing us??”
One Muhammad Faran prayed that Allah guides Bhutto to the ‘right’ path as he explained the meaning of namaste. “namastay ka matlab hota hai “kay main appkay samnay jhukta hun”. Allah hidayat dai.”
Syeda Jawaria mocked Bilawal Bhutto for doing namaste as recalled that Bhutto once performed pooja in a Hindu temple in Pakistan years back. “Jou Log Pooja Kersaktai Hai Wou Namstai Bhi Kerlai Tou Is Mai In Logon Kai Liyai Kon Si Bari Baat Hogi…(People who can do pooja can also do namaste, what is the big deal for such people),” Jawaria wrote.
One Yousar Mahmood called a Bilawal Bhutto a “jahanummi” (sinner) and wrote, “Lanat is jahanumi Namoonay pe aur isko foreign ministry denay waloon pe (shame on this sinner clown and on those who gave him the foreign ministry.”
While social media is rife with reactions to Jaishankar and Bhutto’s namaste to each other and the former’s cold gesture, EAM Jaishankar snubbed Pakistan over the issue of terrorism as well as he said that cross-border terrorism must be stopped.
“The menace of terrorism continues unabated. We firmly believe that there can be no justification for terrorism and it must be stopped in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism. Combating terrorism is one of the original mandates of SCO,” EAM Jaishankar said at SCO meet in Goa.
Compared to the reaction to his Pakistani counterpart, EAM Jaishankar was seen smiling and talking to the Russian Foreign Minister quite warmly.
It is notable that ever since the Narendra Modi government abrogated Article 370 in Jammu Kashmir, the already strained Indo-Pak bilateral ties have been affected. The Modi government also took a strict stand against Pakistan’s state-sponsored cross-border terrorism.
About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
The SCO currently has eight member countries (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), four observer states interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey).
Notably, the Shanghai Five, which was formed in 1996, became the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2001 with the addition of Uzbekistan. The SCO expanded to become one of the largest multilateral organizations in the world, representing more than 30% of the world’s GDP and 40% of the world’s population, with the addition of India and Pakistan in 2017 and the decision to admit Tehran as a full member in 2021.