Pakistan formally invites PM Narendra Modi to attend SCO meeting in Islamabad

Pakistan issued a formal invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for the upcoming SCO meeting in Istanbul. The two countries have a long history of strained relations and it was not immediately clear whether PM Modi would be attending the event in mid-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 (too),” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told the weekly press briefing.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation comprises of India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The influential economic and security bloc has gradually emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.

Pakistan currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government and is slated to host the two-day in person meeting for heads of state. PM Modi had missed the last SCO meeting hosted in July by Kazakhstan in light of his planned two-nation trip to Russia and Austria.

The Indian side had initially confirmed the participation of PM Modi and an “advance security liaison” team also visited Kazakhstan as part of the preparations for the visit. The delegation was eventually led by External affairs minister S Jaishankar. While no official reason was given, the ongoing Parliament session and strained relations with China were believed to be among the deciding factors. 

Meanwhile the Ministry of External Affairs issued a clarification earlier this week after speculative reports suggested that PM Modi had already turned down an invite from Pakistan.

“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.

(With inputs from agencies)