India has invited all 10 members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), including Pakistan, to the first-ever SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi from November 20 to 22.
The forum seeks to foster cultural bonds, enhance mutual understanding and deepen cooperation among SCO nations. The invitation follows Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s announcement on October 20 that India would host the first SCO Civilisation Dialogue Forum by the end of this year.
Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurungzeb Khan Khichi, is among those invited to attend, diplomatic sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the three-day forum, which will bring together representatives from more than 25 countries at Purana Quila, the historic 16th-century fort in the national capital.
The initiative was proposed by PM Modi at the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025 and was subsequently adopted by the grouping.
The Ministry of Culture is partnering with the Ministry of External Affairs to organise the event. The choice of Purana Quila as the venue underscores India’s emphasis on highlighting its historical and civilisational continuum while hosting a major multilateral cultural event.
The initiative was proposed by PM Modi at the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025 and was subsequently adopted by the grouping. Culture ministers from all 10 SCO member states, including Russia, China, the UAE, Iran and Belarus, have been invited, along with representatives from observer and dialogue partner countries.
Yet to confirm
Pakistan has yet to confirm who will represent it at the forum. If Minister Khichi attends, 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.
Despite strained bilateral relations, India has continued to engage with Pakistan within the SCO framework. In September 2026, India sent its SCO National Coordinator Alok Dimri to Islamabad for a meeting ahead of Pakistan’s presidency of the grouping and the planned SCO leaders’ summit scheduled for August 2027.
