Pakistan to Decide on Attending SCO Meeting in India After Consultations

Pakistan will take a final decision on whether to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi later this month after consultations among relevant institutions, its Foreign Office said on Friday.

Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan confirmed that Islamabad had received an invitation from India to participate in the November 20-22 meeting. Speaking at his weekly media briefing, he said the country's leadership would decide on participation after consultations with relevant institutions.

India has invited all SCO member countries, including Pakistan, to the forum, which is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Pakistan's National Heritage and Culture Minister Aurangzeb Khan Khichi is learnt to have been invited to attend the event.

The invitation is significant as it could mark the first time New Delhi has invited a senior Pakistani minister to an event in India since the military confrontation between the two countries in May 2025. India announced on October 28 that invitations had been extended to all SCO members in keeping with established practice.

The development comes amid strained bilateral relations following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were killed. India subsequently launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The military confrontation lasted four days and ended on May 10 following an understanding between the military officials of both countries.

India has repeatedly raised the issue of cross-border terrorism at SCO meetings, calling for a united approach against terrorism and its financing without double standards. At the SCO summit in Bishkek in September, New Delhi urged member countries to work together to dismantle the entire ecosystem of terrorism.

The SCO, a Eurasian political, economic and security grouping, comprises India, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Belarus. Pakistan's decision on attending the New Delhi forum will be closely watched amid continuing tensions between the two neighbouring countries.