SCO summit: India confirms to invite Pakistan PM Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan will be invited in the council of heads of government meeting Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Indian External Affairs Ministry (EAM) confirmed Thursday.

The EAM spokesperson Raveesh Kumar has confirmed the news while saying that all eight SCO member states will be invited in meeting in accordance with the established procedure.

“As per the established practice and procedure within the SCO, all eight members of the SCO, as well as four observer states and other international dialogue partners will be invited to attend the meeting,” he said.

“The meeting is held annually at the prime minister’s level and it discusses the SCO’s program and multilateral economic and trade co-operation,” he added.

The development is noteworthy seeing the tensions between Pakistan and India. The tension between the two countries reached a record high last year after India scrapped Article 370 that recognised occupied Kashmir as a special territory.

The SCO meeting will be held in the second half of this year with India hosting the member states. . The association has become a significant group of countries with emerging economies.

Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the founding members of the SCO which was created in 15 June 2001. Pakistan and India joined the organization in 2017.

This is the first time New Delhi will host the event in the second half of 2020.