Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Pakistan for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Islamabad on October 15-16.
On August 30, India confirmed it had received an invitation from Pakistan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the SCO Council of Heads of Government summit, which Pakistan will host under its rotating chairmanship.
As the current chair, Pakistan will organize the two-day SCO Heads of Government summit in person. This will be preceded by a ministerial and several senior officials' meetings, focusing on financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among SCO member nations.
The SCO, founded in 2001 at a summit in Shanghai by leaders of Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, welcomed India and Pakistan as permanent members in 2017. Iran also joined as a permanent member during a virtual summit hosted by India in 2023.
The SCO has evolved into a major trans-regional body, emphasizing economic and security collaboration. India hosted the last SCO Summit virtually in 2023, with Pakistan's former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif participating online.
