Islamabad (TDI) : India has invited Pakistan and the other nine member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to its inaugural Civilizational Dialogue Forum, scheduled to take place in New Delhi from November 20 to 22, in a development that could provide a limited opening for engagement amid strained bilateral relations.
Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, is among those invited to attend the forum, according to Indian media reports citing diplomatic sources. Islamabad has yet to announce whether he will participate.
If Khichi attends, the visit would mark the first time a senior Pakistani minister has travelled to India since the May 2025 military confrontation between the two countries. The last such visit was made by then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who travelled to Goa in May 2023 for a meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh announced the initiative at the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on October 20, inviting all member states to participate. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was present at the meeting.
The forum aims to strengthen cultural cooperation, promote people-to-people contacts and encourage mutual understanding among SCO members through engagement on their shared heritage, history, art, literature and traditions. The initiative was proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO summit in Tianjin in September 2025.
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The invitation comes against the backdrop of persistent tensions following the military conflict in May 2025, which erupted after an attack in Pahalgam, IIOJK. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, while Islamabad denied the allegations. The two countries subsequently experienced a sharp escalation in hostilities before a ceasefire was announced.
Despite strained bilateral ties, both countries continue to engage through the SCO, a regional organization that brings together China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Pakistan formally assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for the 2026–27 term following the organization’s summit in Bishkek on September 1. It is scheduled to host the next summit in Islamabad in 2027.
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The upcoming forum will therefore take place as Pakistan prepares to lead the organization’s activities for the coming year, with regional connectivity, cooperation and cultural engagement among the broader priorities of its chairmanship.
However, the invitation itself does not signal a change in either country’s bilateral position. Its significance will depend partly on Pakistan’s decision on attendance and whether the multilateral engagement creates space for further contact between the two sides.
