India has invited all 10 countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), including Pakistan, for the bloc’s inaugural Civilisational Dialogue Forum to be held in Delhi from November 20-22, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s national heritage and culture minister Aurangzeb Khan Khichi has been invited, HT learns. On October 20, defence minister Rajnath Singh called for joint action to dismantle terrorism, asserting that there can be no justification for the scourge or double standards in tackling it, in a pointed message delivered in the presence of Pakistan’s deputy PM and defence minister Ishaq Dar at the 25th meeting of SCO council of heads of government at Dushanbe in Tajikistan.
Also Read I J&K Congress distances self from Farooq’s Pak remarks All SCO members have been invited for the dialogue and the multilateral initiative has nothing to do with bilateral relations with Pakistan, the officials said, adding that the development should be viewed in the broader context.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar visited Pakistan in October 2024 for the SCO Council Heads of Government meeting, becoming the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in nine years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the dialogue at the SCO leaders’ Summit in Tianjin last year.
