India to attend SCO officials' meeting in Pakistan

India will take part in a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting hosted by Pakistan from September 28 to 30, according to official sources. The gathering aims to approve a schedule of events under Pakistan's presidency, leading up to the Council of Heads of State summit, which Islamabad will invite leaders of all member-states, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to attend.

India became a full member of the SCO in 2017 and has actively participated in SCO activities since then, with Prime Minister Modi attending summits and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar joining government meetings.

Alok Dimri is expected to attend the national coordinators' meeting, which begins on Monday. Although there has been no substantive bilateral engagement between India and Pakistan for a decade, officials from both countries have visited each other's nations for SCO-related activities. However, the main question remains whether Prime Minister Modi will attend the summit in Islamabad next year. The Saarc summit process is currently stalled due to the Prime Minister's reluctance to travel to Pakistan.