For the first time since 2023, Delhi invites Pakistan’s Minister for Inaugural SCO Civilization Dialogue in November

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek. File | Photo credit: ANI

India will host the first ‘Forum of Civilizations Dialogue’ of the 10-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which includes Pakistan, from November 20 to 22 in Delhi, sources confirmed to The Hindu.

The dialogue, which will be organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of External Affairs, was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO Leaders Summit in Tianjin last year and accepted by the SCO Council. According to sources, the government has invited Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurungzeb Khan Khichi to the event. Ministers of culture from 10 member states, including China, Russia, Iran, Belarus and Central Asian states, 15 dialogue partners and observer countries were invited.

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The event to be inaugurated by Mr. Modi will be held at Delhi’s iconic Purana Quila (Old Fort), a 16th-century fort built by Emperor Humayun. The fort is also the site of many excavations that show India’s ancient past spanning nearly 3,000 years, from Pre-Mauryan, Mauryan, Sunga, Kushana, Gupta, Post-Gupta to the medieval Rajput, Sultanate and Mughal periods, officials said, explaining its significance.

According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan has not yet confirmed who will lead its delegation at the discussion forum. If Mr Khichi attends, it will be the first time India has hosted a minister from Pakistan since the 2023 SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, when Pakistan’s then FM Bilawal Bhutto traveled to Goa, and the first time since the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025.

While the Modi government has refused to attend South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meetings in Islamabad since 2016 due to differences with Pakistan, it has joined SCO meetings there in the past, including the SCO-Regional Anti-Terror Structure (RATS). In September, India sent SCO National Coordinator Alok Dimri to Islamabad to attend the first coordination meeting for Pakistan’s SCO Chairmanship and the events leading up to the Leader’s Summit in Pakistan scheduled for August 2027. In November 2024, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India at the SCO Heads of Government (HoG) Summit, who will represent the SCO Heads of India in Summa. next year.

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“India is dealing with the SCO as an entity, as an important organization,” MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George said in response to a question by The Hindu at a briefing on August 27 on whether PM Modi would go to Pakistan for the summit. “Regarding our cooperation with individual countries, a decision will be made by the relevant authority in due course and our appropriate level of participation will be decided accordingly,” he added.

As part of the Forum for Civilizations Dialogue, each participating state was invited to nominate a delegation composed of a minister responsible for culture and up to four government representatives, including senior officials, subject matter experts, scientists, cultural heritage experts or representatives of relevant cultural institutions. The forum aims to promote awareness and appreciation of the shared civilizational heritage of the SCO countries, organizers said, and will feature four thematic sessions: Monastic Paths, covering religion and philosophical traditions; Art and Architecture; Language, literature, writing and manuscript traditions; and cultural expressions and living traditions in all countries of the grouping.

Published – 27 Oct 2026 15:44 IST