New Delhi: Pakistan Friday confirmed its SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) participation and said it will send its Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Minister Musadik Masood Malik to New Delhi on 20 November.
PM Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the three-day gathering, which will bring together representatives of SCO member states to discuss cultural exchanges, shared histories and civilisational connections.
“The Government of Pakistan has nominated Dr Musadik Masood Malik, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, to represent Pakistan at the SCO Civilisational Dialogue to be held in New Delhi from 20 to 22 November 2026,” the foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.
The announcement comes days after Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that 15 countries had confirmed their participation in the inaugural forum. He had also expressed hope that Pakistan would attend.
Speaking to reporters at Bharat Mandapam Friday, Shekhawat indicated that the forum would steer clear of geopolitical disagreements, focusing instead on the cultural and historical links shared by member countries.
Referring to India and Pakistan, Shekhawat said their cultural and civilisational evolution had followed parallel trajectories despite the Partition and subsequent political differences.
“Their evolution has happened parallelly with us. Therefore, there doesn’t seem to be a possibility that they will have any differences over this (cultural civilisation) subject,” he said.
The diplomatic engagement surrounding the forum has been taking shape over the past month. Last month, Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires in New Delhi, Saad Warraich, attended a luncheon hosted by Sibi George, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, for resident ambassadors and high commissioners of SCO member and partner countries.
The latest developments follow a visit by India’s national SCO coordinator, Alok Dimri, to Islamabad earlier this month, where he attended meetings under Pakistan’s chairmanship of the organisation.
Dimri’s remarks during the visit, in which he expressed pleasure at being in Pakistan and a desire to travel to other Pakistani cities, drew a favourable response from Islamabad.
Asked about Dimri’s comments, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan described the visit as a “welcome move”, noting that it was the first visit by a senior Indian official to Pakistan in more than two years.
“We had national coordinators from all member states of the SCO, including from India,” Khan said. He added that Dimri’s presence reflected shared regional interests in peace, development, connectivity, trade and transit.
Dimri had told Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV that it was his first visit to the country and that he was happy to be in Islamabad. He also expressed an interest in visiting Faisalabad, Sialkot and Lahore.
Dimri’s remarks were shared by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry. During the visit, Dimri was also seen exchanging a handshake with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and offering a traditional Namaste during an official engagement.
Asked whether the visit or the gestures signalled a diplomatic message from New Delhi, Khan cautioned against reading too much into what was, he said, a multilateral engagement rather than a bilateral diplomatic initiative.
“SCO is a mini-lateral organisation and participation in SCO events has occurred in the past,” he said, adding that there was “nothing new” about India’s participation.
Direct political and diplomatic engagement between the two countries remains limited. Established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the SCO has since expanded to include India and Pakistan, which became full members in 2017, and Iran, which joined in 2023.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)