“The government of Pakistan remains committed to promoting dialogue among civilisations and fostering people-to-people contacts within the SCO framework in a spirit of mutual respect,” the Foreign Office said.
Pakistan has announced that Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Civilisational Dialogue in India later this month.
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| Devastation left by India's attack in May 2025 |
The three-day meeting of SCO member countries will be held in New Delhi from November 20.
New Delhi had announced on October 28 that invitations were sent to all members in keeping with established practice including to Islamabad. It would be first Pakistani minister's visit to New Delhi since Operation Sindoor of May 2025.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met in Panaji, Goa, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting on in May 2023.
Dr Jaishankar greeted Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari with a traditional Namaste rather than a handshake when receiving delegates.
It marked the first visit by a senior Pakistani foreign minister to India in 12 years.
However, no formal bilateral meetings took place between two sides.
For his part Jaishankar strongly criticized Pakistan over cross-border terrorism, directly labeling Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as a "promoter, justifier and a spokesperson of a terror industry".
He also stressed that Jammu and Kashmir is permanently part of India and that talks with Pakistan cannot happen while cross-border terrorism continued. Earlier in media interaction, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari criticized India's 2019 revocation of the special status - Art 370 - in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistani minister Malik is a key figure who frequently appears on television talk shows to present the government's official position.
It remains to be seen how and how much does his participation in the India-hosted SCO event can eas tensions between two South Asian neighbours.
Relations between India and Pakistan have remained strained since the April 22, 2025, terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people.
India subsequently launched Operation Sindoor on May 6-7 night targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
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