NEW DELHI: Pakistan has formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of Government meeting scheduled in Islamabad in October, the foreign office spokesperson said.

Pakistan will be hosting the two-day SCO Heads of Governments Meeting in October as it currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG).

“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 (too),” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told the weekly press briefing.

While some countries have already confirmed their participation in the SCO meeting, the official list of attendees has not been released.
India has not yet responded to the invitation.

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

Last year, India hosted the SCO meeting in a virtual format and invited Pakistan to attend. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the meeting through a video link.

However, Pakistan's then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend the in-person two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa, becoming the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in almost 12 years.

Earlier, speculations were rife that India had rejected the invitation to the SCO meeting. However, the Ministry of External Affairs reportedly denied these reports in an official statement.

“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,” Indian Express quoted an MEA official as saying.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have remained high over the last few years, primarily over cross-border terrorism and the Kashmir issue. India has often expressed its desires for normalcy between the two nation, urging Islamabad to create a terror-free environment.