NEW DELHI, Oct 27: For the first time in the last three years, India has invited Pakistan to attend an international forum to be hosted by India in Delhi next month.
Official sources said on Tuesday that Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurungzeb Khan Khichi has been invited to attend the first “Civilisational Dialogue Forum” of the 10-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping, that include Pakistan, to be held in Delhi from November 20 to 22.
The dialogue, which will be organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of External Affairs, was proposed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO leaders’ Summit in Tianjin last year and adopted by the SCO Council. Culture Ministers from the 10 member states, including China, Russia, Iran, Belarus and Central Asian states, 15 Dialogue partners and observer countries have been invited.
The event, which will 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 showcasing India’s ancient past spanning nearly 3,000 years, from the Pre-Mauryan, Mauryan, Sunga, Kushana, Gupta, Post-Gupta period to medieval-era Rajput, Sultanate and Mughal periods, officials said, explaining its importance.
According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan has not so far confirmed who will lead its delegation to the dialogue forum. If Mr Khichi attends, this will be the first time India will host a Minister from Pakistan since the 2023 SCO Foreign Ministers meeting held in Goa which was attended by the then Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto. It will also be the first time since the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May, last year, in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that any Pakistani delegation, including sports teams, visiting India.
While the Modi government has refused to take part in meetings of South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Islamabad due to differences with Pakistan since 2016, it has joined SCO meetings there in the past, including 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 Presidency and events leading up to the leader’s Summit in Pakistan, scheduled for August 2027.
“India deals with SCO as an entity, as an important organisation,” MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George had said in August in response to a question whether PM Modi would travel to Pakistan for the August, 2027 summit. “As far as our engagement with individual countries is concerned, a decision will be taken by the appropriate authority at the appropriate time and our appropriate level of participation will be decided accordingly,” he had said.
As a part of the Civilisational Dialogue Forum, each participating State has been invited to nominate a delegation comprising the Minister responsible for Culture and up to four government representatives, including senior officials, subject-matter experts, scholars, cultural heritage professionals or representatives of relevant cultural institutions.
The Forum aims to promote awareness and appreciation of the shared civilisational heritage of SCO countries, organisers said and will feature four thematic sessions: Monastic Trails, involving Religion and Philosophical Traditions; Art and Architecture; Language, Literature, Script and Manuscript Traditions; and Cultural Expressions and Living Traditions within all the countries in the grouping.
(Manas Dasgupta)