Pak invites PM Modi for SCO meet in Islamabad, India yet to take call

New Delhi/Islamabad, August 29

Pakistan on Thursday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of Government meeting to be held in Islamabad in October.

Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) and in that capacity, will be hosting the two-day in-person SCO Heads of Governments Meeting.

Sources on the Indian side confirmed having received the invite. Sending an invite to all SCO members was part of the protocol for the host nation, the sources said, adding a decision on the participation was yet to be taken.

“Invitations have been sent to the heads of countries to participate in the meeting, which will take place on October 15-16. An invitation has also been sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly press briefing. Some countries had already confirmed participation, which would be informed in due course, she said.

About ties with India, the spokesperson said, “Pakistan does not have direct bilateral trade with India.” The Islamabad summit will be preceded by a ministerial meeting and several rounds of senior officials’ meetings focused on financial, economic, socio-cultural and humanitarian cooperation among SCO member states.

The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.

India hosted the SCO summit last year, organised in a virtual mode, and attended by Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif through a video link. However, Pakistan’s then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited Goa in May 2023 to attend the in-person two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers. He was the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in almost 12 years.

Islamabad and New Delhi have a long history of strained relations, primarily due to the Kashmir issue as well as the cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. India has been insisting that the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment that is free of terror for talks. (With PTI inputs)