India invites Pakistan after for SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum

Amid ongoing bilateral tensions, India has invited Pakistan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) inaugural Civilisational Dialogue Forum, scheduled to be held in New Delhi from November 20 to 22.

Diplomatic sources confirmed The Pioneer that Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurungzeb Khan Khichi, is among the invitees—the first such invitation extended to a Pakistani minister since India carried out Operation Sindoor, its targeted strikes on terror infrastructure in May 2025.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the three-day event at Purana Quila, the historic 16th-century fort in the national capital. The forum is projected to bring together representatives from more than 25 countries, focusing on cultural and civilisational exchanges.

The initiative was originally proposed by Prime Minister Modi at the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025 and later adopted by the grouping. India’s Ministry of Culture is organising the event in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs. Culture ministers from all 10 SCO member states—including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Belarus—have been invited, along with officials from observer and dialogue partner countries.

Pakistan has not yet confirmed whether Khichi or any other representative will attend. Should the minister participate, it would mark the first visit by a Pakistani minister to India since the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in 2023, which was attended by Bilawal Bhutto.

Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, involved precise strikes on terrorist camps and infrastructure across the border. India has described the operation as measured and non-escalatory, while bilateral relations have remained strained in the period since. Despite this, New Delhi has continued selective engagement with Islamabad through multilateral platforms such as the SCO.

In September 2026, India’s SCO National Coordinator Alok Dimri travelled to Islamabad for a preparatory meeting ahead of Pakistan’s upcoming presidency of the grouping and the planned SCO leaders’ summit in August 2027.

The invitation to the Civilisational Dialogue Forum is being seen as a limited step within the SCO framework, even as broader political differences between the two neighbours persist.