India Receives Invitation for SCO Summit in Pakistan

India has confirmed receiving an invitation from Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting set to be held in Islamabad in October. The meeting will focus on various cooperative aspects among SCO member states. Further confirmations of attendance from other countries are awaited.

India acknowledged on Friday that it has received an invitation from Pakistan for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting scheduled for October in Islamabad.

Pakistan extended the invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for the SCO's Council of Heads of Government meeting.

'Yes, we have received an invitation from Pakistan for the SCO's Council of Heads of State meeting. No update is available at this time,' a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated during a media briefing.

Holding the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG), Pakistan will organize the two-day summit in October.

'Invitations have been dispatched to heads of state for the meetings on October 15-16, including an invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,' Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch announced in a weekly briefing.

Some nations have already confirmed attendance, with their names to be disclosed soon, she added.

The Islamabad summit will be preceded by a ministerial meeting and multiple senior officials' meetings concentrating on financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among SCO member nations.

The SCO was established by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in 2001 in Shanghai.

India and Pakistan gained permanent membership in 2017; Iran followed suit in 2023 during an India-hosted virtual summit.

Recognized as an influential economic and security bloc, the SCO now stands as one of the most significant trans-regional organizations globally.

Pakistan and India, as important SCO members, hold the capability to organize summit meetings. India hosted the SCO Summit virtually last year, attended via video link by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Pakistan's former foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, visited India in May 2023 for a two-day SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa—marking the first such visit by a Pakistani foreign minister in almost 12 years.

Historically, Islamabad and New Delhi have experienced strained relations, primarily due to the Kashmir conflict and cross-border terrorism originating from Pakistan.

(With inputs from agencies.)