Pakistan Invites PM Modi to October's SCO Summit in Islamabad

Pakistan has formally invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in October. Confirmations for the event have started coming in, as Pakistan prepares to host the summit on October 15-16. The SCO includes members like China, Russia, and India.

Pakistan has formally extended an invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, scheduled to take place in Islamabad this October, Geo News reports. Speaking at a weekly news briefing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed that invitations have been sent to all heads of government of SCO member states, including PM Modi, for the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting in Islamabad.

Baloch added that Pakistan has already received some confirmations for the SCO summit, set to be hosted on October 15-16, per Geo News. The official announcement about Pakistan's invitations came two days after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that the country would invite PM Modi to the regional summit.

Interestingly, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India had previously denied reports suggesting that PM Modi would not attend the upcoming SCO summit in Pakistan. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which became a permanent intergovernmental international organization on June 15, 2001, originally consisted of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It now includes nine member states, including India, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia.

(With inputs from agencies.)