Pakistan has yet to respond to India’s invitation to a regional meeting in May

Islamabad:

Pakistan said on Thursday it had not yet decided on India’s invitation to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Goa from of May.

“Pakistan and India are members of the SCO. India is assuming the chairmanship of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO for 2022-2023. These invitations are being processed according to standard procedures and a decision will be taken in in due time,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

India has invited the Pakistani Foreign Minister to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting scheduled for 4-5 May 2023 in Goa.

“The SCO is an important cross-regional organization that aims to strengthen economic ties and cooperation among its member states in different fields. Every year, the SCO draws up a calendar of activities, which includes the meeting of foreign ministers” , the spokesperson added.

India has officially extended invitations to all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), including Pakistan and China, for the upcoming Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Goa on 4-5 may.

The invitation includes invitations to new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto.

India took over the chairmanship of the 9-member megagroup in September last year and will host key ministerial meetings and the summit this year.

Relations between the two countries have been tenuous for many years over issues of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, even as Islamabad calls for the reinstatement of Article 370 for the former Indian state of Jammu and Cashmere for any discussion.

Furthermore, Foreign Minister Bilawal’s remarks at the United Nations (UN) last month on Prime Minister Modi cast a shadow over any improvement in relations between the two countries.

The organization, which has been in existence for 20 years, has among its members Russia, India, China, Pakistan and four Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Iran is the latest country to become a member and, under the Indian presidency, it will participate for the first time in the meeting of the grouping as a full member.

The latest meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Samarkand in Uzbekistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. The 22nd meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council is the first in-person summit since 2019.

This year’s SCO foreign ministers’ meeting comes in the wake of the escalating Russian-Ukrainian war and India’s G20 presidency.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)