Pakistan has formally extended an invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, scheduled to take place in Islamabad on October 15-16.
The announcement was made by Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch during her weekly press briefing, where she confirmed that invitations had been sent to the heads of all SCO member states, including India.
The SCO heads of government meeting, which Pakistan is set to host, will be preceded by a ministerial gathering and several rounds of senior officials' meetings. These discussions will focus on financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among the SCO member states.
While the invitation to PM Modi is seen as a standard protocol, analysts believe it is unlikely that he will attend the meeting in person, given the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan.
In previous instances, such as the SCO's 24th annual summit held in Kazakhstan in July this year, PM Modi opted not to participate, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar representing India instead. It is expected that a similar arrangement may be made for the October meeting, with a ministerial delegation possibly representing India.
Political analyst Kamran Yousaf noted that extending invitations to all member states, including India, is a routine diplomatic practice for any host country. He emphasized that this move should not be viewed as a political gesture but rather as a standard procedure. "I do not see this as a political stunt. However, I do not see PM Modi landing in Islamabad," Yousaf stated.
In the past, India has typically been represented by ministers at SCO heads of government meetings, and it is anticipated that this pattern will continue for the upcoming event.
Last year, Pakistan's then-Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting, underscoring the complex yet ongoing diplomatic interactions between the two neighboring countries.