Indian official attends SCO planning meeting in Islamabad after UN exchanges
India sent a senior External Affairs Ministry official to an SCO National Coordinators meeting in Islamabad, its first such official visit to Pakistan since Operation Sindoor, according to the report. Pakistan also announced that it would host the SCO leaders’ summit in August 2027.
A senior Indian External Affairs Ministry official attended a preparatory Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Islamabad, days after India and Pakistan exchanged accusations over terrorism and Kashmir at the United Nations General Assembly. The three-day meeting of SCO National Coordinators began on September 29, 2026. India was represented by Alok Dimri, Joint Secretary for Multilateral and Economic Relations.
The report described the visit as the first official Indian visit to Pakistan since Operation Sindoor last year. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the meeting was an initial engagement under its SCO chairship. It announced that Pakistan would host the SCO Council of Heads of State summit in August 2027.
The ministry said its chairship would focus on “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity”. It said the coordinators’ meeting would contribute to preparations for ministerial and leaders’ events during the chairship. Indian officials said the meeting was taking place in a multilateral format and did not carry particular significance for bilateral ties with Pakistan.
However, the participation leaves open the possibility of Indian attendance at higher-level SCO events, including the meeting to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited. New Delhi has previously avoided leaders’ meetings in Pakistan and India in some formats, although External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended an SCO heads-of-government meeting in Islamabad in 2024.
The ministry has not said whether Modi will travel to Pakistan for the 2027 summit. The meeting followed UNGA speeches in which Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traded allegations. India also rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reference to Kashmir, with spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal saying the issue concerned India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
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