Pak invites Modi to SCO meeting in Islamabad

Pakistan has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation heads of government meeting being organised here in October, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in Islamabad on Thursday.

During a weekly press briefing, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that invitations have been sent to the heads of countries to participate in the meeting which will take place on October 15-16, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“An invitation has also been sent to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi,” Baloch was quoted as saying in the report.

Baloch said some countries had already confirmed participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting. “It will be informed in due course which country has confirmed,” she added.

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.

The SCO Summit will be preceded by a ministerial meeting and several rounds of senior officials' meetings focusing on financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among the SCO member states.

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 transregional international organisations.

When asked about ties with India, the spokesperson said, “Pakistan does not have direct bilateral trade with India.”

Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament suspended Article 370 on August 5, 2019, a decision that Islamabad believed undermined the environment for holding talks between the neighbours.