- Pakistan to chair SCO Summit 2027, hosting 30 meetings.
- Uncertainty surrounds PM Modi's visit due to strained relations.
- Past diplomatic exchanges contrasted with current lack of interaction.
Jagran Correspondent, New Delhi | Pakistan was handed over the responsibility of the next chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit 2027 in Bishkek on Tuesday. Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that his country will hold the summit under the theme “Transforming the Vision: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity.” It is also certain that around 30 meetings (including officials, ministers and heads of state) under the aegis of SCO will be held in Pakistan within one year.
Will PM Modi Visit Islamabad?
So the question is whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian officials will participate in these meetings, scheduled for July to September 2027. The correct answer to this question will be known only in the future, but considering the current strained relationship between the two countries, the possibility seems very slim.
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India And Pakistan's Foreign Ministers Participated In The Past
However, in the year 2024, a meeting of SCO foreign ministers was held in Pakistan, in which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited there to participate. India assumed the SCO chairmanship in 2023. Relations between the two countries remained tense at that time too. However, Pakistan's then Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto, travelled to India (Goa) to participate in the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting. The summit was later held online, with the Pakistani Prime Minister also participating.
PM Modi has been consistent in participating in the SCO summits since 2015, except for the Astana Summit (2024). The events in 2020, 2021, and 2023 were held virtually. PM Modi and Shahbaz Sharif shared the stage at the Tianjin (China) summit in 2025 and the Samarkand summit in 2022, but there was no formal or informal interaction between the two.
In 2015, PM Modi met with then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif separately at the SCO summit in Ufa. This was followed by a meeting between the foreign ministers and the NSAs of the two countries. PM Modi also made a surprise visit to Pakistan on December 25, 2015. Subsequently, there were talks about his visit to Islamabad for the SAARC summit in 2016. However, India and other members declined to attend the summit in light of the terrorist attacks. Since then, the SAARC organisation has been in abeyance.
New attempts were made to improve ties, but after the Pathankot attack, India hardened its stance on the issue of terrorism. Pakistan's policy of supporting cross-border terrorists has strained relations with India. The heads of government of the two countries do not even shake hands on forums like the SCO summit.
Diplomatic sources state that the Pakistani government is preparing to host the SCO with fanfare. Having already improved its relations with the United States and recently signed the Mecca Defence Treaty with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, the Pakistani government believes that a successful SCO summit may further enhance its standing on the global stage.
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