India has invited Pakistan to participate in a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue Forum scheduled to take place in Delhi from November 20 to 22. Diplomatic sources confirm that Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, has received an invitation to the event.
This invitation represents a significant diplomatic development, being the first extended to a senior Pakistani minister since India launched Operation Sindoor in May 2025 following the Pahalgam terror attack. Relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours have remained tense since the military operation.
The last visit by a senior Pakistani minister to India was in May 2023, when then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended an SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa.
Forum Aims and SCO Context
India has extended invitations to all ten SCO member states for the forum. The primary objective is to foster stronger cultural ties, enhance mutual understanding, and deepen engagement among the diverse member countries.
The forum was initially announced by India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on October 20. At that meeting, Singh emphasized the SCO's 25-year journey as an opportune moment for member states to assess collective achievements and strategize for the organization's future direction.
During his address, Singh underscored the necessity for a firm and consistent approach to combating terrorism. He stated, "There should be no double standards in dealing with terrorism, and no place for those who finance, support or provide safe havens to terrorists. The entire ecosystem of terrorism must be firmly and collectively dismantled." Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar was also present at this meeting.
Pakistan's SCO Chairmanship
Pakistan assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for the 2026-27 term on September 1, succeeding Kyrgyzstan after the summit in Bishkek. The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance comprising Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India became a full member of the organization in 2017.