Pakistan Invites Modi To Islamabad SCO Meeting; Will India’s PM Attend?

New Delhi: Pakistan has extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting which will be held in Islamabad 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’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch informed at a press briefing on Thursday.

Pakistan currently holds the rotating chairmanship of SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG).

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had attended last year’s meeting, hosted by India, through a video link, while then-Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend the two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa.

India has not yet responded to Pakistan’s invitation to Modi.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has denied reports claiming that India has already rejected the invitation to Islamabad.

“We have noticed several outlets are running news that the PM won’t attend a SCO meeting in Pakistan or EAM will attend a SCO meeting in Pakistan. MEA hasn’t commented on this matter and would request speculative news in this regard be avoided,” The Indian Express quoted an MEA official as saying.

Given the tensions between India and Pakistan over the last few years, primarily over cross-border terrorism and Kashmir issue, it is unlikely that PM Modi will ultimately make the trip to Islamabad.

According to political analysts, India could be represented by a ministerial delegation, as has been the case in some earlier SCO CHG meetings.