India confirms invitation from Pakistan for SCO meeting in October
New Delhi, August 30
India confirmed on Friday that it has received an invitation from Pakistan for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting to be held in Islamabad in October.
Pakistan invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to 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 that is to happen. We do not have an update on that," a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in response to a reporter's question during his media briefing here.
Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) and in that capacity will be hosting the two-day in-person SCO Heads of Government meeting in October.
"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 the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi," Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at her weekly press briefing in Pakistan.
Some countries have already confirmed their participation in the meeting and their names will be shared in due course, she said.
The Islamabad summit meeting will be preceded by a ministerial meeting and several rounds of senior officials' meetings focused on financial, economic, socio-cultural and humanitarian cooperation among the SCO member states.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
In July 2023, Iran became a permanent member of the SCO at an India-hosted virtual summit of the grouping.
The SCO, as an influential economic and security bloc, has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.
As part of this key regional group, both Pakistan and India can hold summit meetings.
India hosted the SCO Summit last year, organised virtually. It was attended by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through a video link.
However, Pakistan's then foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, visited India in May 2023 to attend the in-person two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa. Zardari 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.
