Is PM Modi Visiting Pakistan For SCO Summit? Here’s MEA’s Response

The external affairs ministry on Friday said it does not have an update on the invitation Pakistan extended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that is being held in Islamabad later this year.

“Yes, we have received an invitation from Pakistan for the SCO meeting. We don’t have an update on that. We will let you know the situation later,” Jaiswal told reporters during the weekly press conference.

Pakistan has officially extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad this October, according to a statement from the foreign office spokesperson.

Pakistan, as the current holder of the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG), will host the two-day 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,” Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.

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.

As part of this key regional group, both Pakistan and India can hold summit meetings.

India hosted the SCO Summit last year, organised in a virtual mode, and attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through a video link.

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 maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.

Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019.