Pakistan has confirmed that it will send a federal minister to the SCO Civilisational Dialogue in New Delhi, the first time in three years that it has sent a minister to an event of this kind in India. Its foreign ministry named Dr Musadik Masood Malik, the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, as its representative.
The event
The dialogue, described as the first forum of its kind, runs in New Delhi from 20 to 22 November and brings together representatives of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states to discuss cultural exchange, shared history and civilisational ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate it. Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said 15 countries had confirmed attendance and that he hoped Pakistan would come. He said the forum would stay away from geopolitical disputes and focus on shared cultural and historical links, and argued that the civilisational paths of India and Pakistan have run in parallel despite Partition.
The diplomatic backdrop
Direct political and diplomatic engagement between the two countries remains limited. Last month Pakistan's chargé d'affaires in New Delhi attended a lunch hosted by the foreign ministry's Secretary (West) for SCO ambassadors. Earlier this month India's national SCO coordinator, Alok Dimri, visited Islamabad for meetings under Pakistan's SCO chairmanship, which Pakistan's Foreign Office called the first visit by a senior Indian official in more than two years. Dimri greeted Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar with a handshake and a namaste.
A Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson called the visit a welcome move but cautioned against reading too much into it, describing the SCO as a mini-lateral body and saying Indian participation in SCO events was nothing new. The report is dated Saturday, and its text says Pakistan's confirmation came on Friday, so the exact day of the statement is unclear.
