The recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir has put a question mark on Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's upcoming visit to India for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers meeting in May. Bilawal's visit would be the first by any Pakistani foreign minister since Hina Rabbani Khar's in 2011, and the first high-level visit by a Pakistani official since Nawaz Sharif's trip to India in 2014 for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Poonch attack, in which five Indian soldiers were killed, came hours after Pakistan announced that its foreign minister would be leading a delegation to India.
India has accused Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism on many occasions and called for strict action against state and non-state actors. Several terrorist groups operate from Pakistani soil and target civilians and security personnel in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. Media reports, days before the Poonch attack, stated that Pakistan was planning grenade attacks on specific targets in Jammu and Kashmir. The report added that security forces, political workers, and people from outside Jammu and Kashmir who are in the Union Territory were likely to be the prime targets.
The Pulwama attack, one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, prompted India to withdraw its 'most-favoured nation' or MFN status to Pakistan. The relations between India and Pakistan further nosedived after India abrogated Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status, and bifurcated the state into Union territories in August 2019. The relations between the two countries have been strained beyond immediate repair, courtesy frequent Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and outside the Union Territory.
The impact of terror attacks on bilateral relationships has been evident. The planned peace talks between India and Pakistan got stalled after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, which claimed the lives of at least 179 people. The Mumbai attacks were carried out by Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. The terror attack in Poonch is likely to affect ties between India and Pakistan, and there is a chance that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's visit might get impacted.
The relations between India and Pakistan seem strained beyond immediate repair. The SCO meeting in Goa is still two weeks away, but the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday puts a question mark on the mood of the visit, if not the visit itself.
