Come October, Imran Khan might come to India.
India, which is due to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting, will officially send an invite to Khan. “India will be hosting the SCO heads of government later this year. It is held annually at the prime ministers’ level and discusses the SCO’s programme on trade and multilateral cooperation. As per established practice and procedure in SCO, all eight members of SCO, as well as four observer states, and other international dialogue partners, will be invited to attend the meeting,” ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday.
The SCO has eight members—India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and four observer states—Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. All the member states will be sent an invite.
This is not the first time that India and Pakistan would be meeting under the SCO. Unlike the UN, which has seen India and Pakistan sparring constantly, the SCO has allowed the space for India and Pakistan to collaborate and even cooperate. A fact that Ambassador Vladimir Norov, the secretary general of the SCO, noted at a public lecture earlier this week in Delhi. “Pakistan and India have been working together (within the SCO) for mutual benefit,” he had said.
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In 2018, the Indian and Pakistani armies participated in the annual SCO Peace Mission drill in Russia to combat terrorism and extremism. This was the first military participation that India undertook after becoming a member.
This collaborative spirit, however, is only reserved for the SCO. India reacted strongly to the informal closed door meeting on Kashmir, called at the behest of China. Terming the move “desperate’’ Kumar said, “We are all aware that an effort was made by Pakistan through a member of UNSC to misuse the platform of the UNSC. The overwhelming majority was of the view that UNSC was not the right forum for such issues and this should be discussed bilaterally. The informal closed door meeting concluded without any outcome. It once again highlights Pakistan’s desperate measures to peddle baseless allegations and present an alarming scenario, lacking any credibility.”
Pakistan has a choice of avoiding this global embarrassment by refraining from such acts in the future, added Kumar.
For once, India also chose to call out China. While the language was measured, Kumar said: “I suggest this question to the Chinese side as well. China should seriously reflect on the view of global consensus, draw the right lessons and refrain from such acts in the future.”
