Days after India-Pakistan sparring at UN, senior Indian official visits Islamabad for SCO planning meet

Pakistan announced that it would host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in August 2027, as an Indian delegation led by a senior MEA official attended a preparatory meeting in Islamabad—the first such official Indian visit to Pakistan since Operation Sindoor last year.

The three-day meeting of SCO National Coordinators that began on Monday (September 29, 2026) comes days after India and Pakistan sparred with each other over the issue of terrorism and the Kashmir dispute at the UN General Assembly (UNGA). External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traded allegations in their national addresses, while Indian and Pakistani diplomats exercised their rights of reply to the speeches on the global stage last week. 

On Tuesday (September 29, 2026), India also rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reference to Kashmir in his UNGA speech. 

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The participation of Joint Secretary (Multilaterals and Economic Relations) Alok Dimri marked a higher level of Indian representation than at the past few meetings held under Pakistan’s Chairpersonship of the SCO this year. In mid-September, a meeting of SCO-Regional Anti-Terror Structure in Islamabad was attended by the Indian Charge d’affaires in Pakistan Satyapal Pandey, without a delegation from India. 

In a statement, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Pakistan’s SCO Chairship would promote the theme of “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity,” for 2026-207.  

“The [National Coordinator] meeting marks an important initial engagement under Pakistan’s Chairmanship and would contribute to preparations for various high-level engagements and activities to be undertaken during the Chairmanship, including the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State to be hosted by Pakistan in August 2027,” the MoFA statement issued in Islamabad said.

Indian officials made it clear that the SCO coordinators’ meet was being held in a multilateral format and hence had no particular significance for India-Pakistan bilateral ties. However, the participation does leave the path open to higher-level attendance at the Ministerial-level events and the Heads of Council meet, to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited. Thus far, New Delhi has avoided the leaders’ meetings in both Delhi and Islamabad. 

In 2023, PM Modi hosted the SCO Heads of Council Summit virtually, while Mr. Jaishankar hosted Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto in person for the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Goa. In 2024, Mr. Jaishankar travelled to Islamabad to attend the SCO Heads of Government meeting as well. The MEA has thus far declined to comment on whether Mr. Modi would travel to Pakistan next year, but has not ruled it out either. 

At a briefing on Tuesday (September 29, 2026), MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal brushed aside a question about whether India would oppose the induction of Turkiye to the 10-nation SCO, which currently comprises China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus and four Central Asian States- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Turkish President Erdogan had told journalists earlier this month that Türkiye would pursue a “higher level” of engagement with the SCO than its observer status, indicating he could ask for full membership next year, particularly given close ties and the military pact with SCO host Pakistan.

“As and when any issue of membership comes it is for [SCO] members to collectively decide as to how to go forward on that,” Mr. Jaiswal said. He also criticised Mr. Erdogan for referring to Kashmir in his UNGA speech last week, when he called for a resolution of all South Asian disputes “including Kashmir”. 

“India rejects the unwarranted references to India and the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir made by the President of Türkiye during his address to the UN General Assembly. This is a matter, as you would understand, pertaining to India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and no external party has any locus standi on this issue,” Mr. Jaiswal said on Tuesday. 

Senior Indian official visits Islamabad for SCO planning meet

Senior Indian official visits Islamabad for SCO planning meet | Video Credit: The Hindu