Pak PM Imran Khan to Be Invited to India For Regional Summit SCO

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a China-led economic and security alliance.

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(Photo: The Quint)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will be invited to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting which New Delhi will host later this year, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday 19 January.

“India will be hosting the heads of government summit later this year. As per established practice and procedure, all eight members and four observer states and other international dialogue partners will be invited... all eight members will be invited,” Kumar stated.

This would be the first high-level meeting of the SCO that would be organised in the country since India's admission to the eight-member grouping. India and Pakistan became full members of the SCO in June 2017.

Officials have stated that it depends on the Pakistan Prime Minister to decide if he accepts the invitation and travels to India or sends a representative.

MEA’s statements come a day after India slammed Pakistan for raising the Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council again on Wednesday with China's help where it failed, again, to find any support, with New Delhi asserting that Islamabad needs to focus on the “hard tasks” it has to address to ensure normal bilateral ties.

The SCO, a China-led economic and security alliance, was founded in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

(With inputs from PTI)