• By Mayukh Debnath
  • Fri, 30 Aug 2024 06:47 PM (IST)
  • Source:ANI

PM Modi SCO Invite: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday confirmed the reciept of an invitation from Pakistan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO's) Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad later this year. The ministry, however, said it had no update to share on the invitation.

Responding to a query at a weekly press briefing, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "Yes, we have received an invitation from Pakistan for the Council of Heads of State Government meeting (SCO meeting) that is to happen. We don't have an update on that. We will let you know what the situation is later."

Pakistan, which currently holds the rotating chairmanship of SCO's Council of Heads of Government, is slated to host a two-day SCO Heads of Government meeting in October. The SCO is a multilateral economic and security bloc comprising India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

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The upcoming meeting of the heads of government of SCO member states will be preceded by a ministerial meeting and several rounds of meetings among senior officials on a multitude of issues ranging from financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation. India hosted the SCO summit last year, in virtual mode. It was attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through a video link.

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However, Pakistan's then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend the in-person meeting of the foreign ministers of SCO member nations in Goa. It was the first visit to India by a Pakistani foreign minister in almost 12 years.

(With inputs from agencies)