In A First Since Operation Sindoor, India Invites Pakistan For SCO Meeting In Delhi

India has invited Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) first Civilisational Dialogue Forum, scheduled to take place in New Delhi from November 20 to 22, even as relations between the neighbours remain strained. Officials confirmed on Tuesday that invitations had been sent to all 10 member countries of the grouping. Pakistan’s national heritage and culture minister, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, is among those invited, according to information available to Hindustan Times. Islamabad has yet to confirm whether he will attend the three-day gathering.

Officials said the invitation was part of a multilateral initiative and should not be interpreted as a shift in India’s bilateral approach towards Pakistan. Islamabad last participated in an SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in May 2023.

PM Modi Likely To Inaugurate Forum At Purana Qila

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the event at Delhi’s Purana Qila, a 16th-century fort. Representatives from more than 25 countries are likely to participate, with discussions expected to focus on shared civilisational heritage, cultural diplomacy and people-to-people exchanges.

If Khichi travels to India, it would mark the first visit by a Pakistani minister since former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in May 2023.

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How The SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum Took Shape

The initiative was proposed by Modi at the SCO Council of Heads of State summit in Tianjin, China, in September 2025, before being adopted by the grouping. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh subsequently announced India’s role as host while addressing the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on October 20, 2026.

The ministries of culture and external affairs are jointly organising the forum.

Despite strained ties, both countries continue to participate in SCO engagements. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Pakistan in October 2024 for the grouping’s Council of Heads of Government meeting, becoming the first Indian foreign minister to travel there in nine years.

Operation Sindoor Remains A Major Flashpoint

The diplomatic engagement comes against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor, launched following the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, which killed 26 people.

During the military confrontation between May 7 and May 10, Indian forces struck nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), killing at least 100 terrorists, according to Indian accounts. The Indian Air Force also targeted 13 Pakistani airbases and military installations.

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India Maintains Tough Stand On Terrorism

New Delhi has continued to press for action against terrorism at multilateral forums. Addressing the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe on October 20, Singh called for joint efforts to dismantle terrorism and rejected any justification or double standards in tackling the threat. Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ishaq Dar was present at the meeting.

Relations between the two countries have remained tense following the Pathankot and Uri terror attacks in 2016, with the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor further deepening the divide. The upcoming forum will bring the two countries into the same multilateral setting, although its cultural focus does not signal a change in their bilateral relationship.