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Tag: SCO

  • پاکستانی وزیر کی بھارت میں ایس سی او اجلاس میں شرکت

    پاکستانی وزیر کی بھارت میں ایس سی او اجلاس میں شرکت

    پاکستان اس ماہ کے آخر میں بھارت میں ہونے والے ایک علاقائی اجلاس میں اپنے وزیرِ موسمیات مصدق مسعود ملک کو بھیجے گا، ترجمان دفترِ خارجہ نے ہفتے کے روز بتایا۔

    ترجمان کے مطابق وزیرِ موسمیات 20 سے 22 نومبر 2026 تک نئی دہلی میں ہونے والے شنگھائی تعاون تنظیم (ایس سی او) کے تہذیبی مکالمے میں شرکت کریں گے۔

    یہ تین سال سے زائد عرصے میں کسی پاکستانی وزیر کا بھارت کا پہلا دورہ ہوگا۔ اس سے قبل آخری اعلیٰ سطحی دورہ مئی 2023 میں ہوا تھا، جب اس وقت کے وزیرِ خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری ایس سی او وزرائے خارجہ کے اجلاس میں شرکت کے لیے گوا گئے تھے۔

    ایس سی او ایک سیاسی و سلامتی کی تنظیم ہے جس میں یوریشیا کے بیشتر ممالک شامل ہیں، جن میں چین اور روس بھی شامل ہیں۔ اس کے اجلاسوں میں رکن ممالک کے حکام علاقائی تعاون، سلامتی اور مشترکہ چیلنجز پر تبادلہ خیال کرتے ہیں۔

    خبر رساں ادارے رائٹرز کے مطابق اسلام آباد اور نئی دہلی کے درمیان تعلقات 2025 میں چار روزہ جنگ کے بعد سے کشیدہ ہیں۔ اس کے بعد سے دونوں ممالک کے درمیان سفارتی رابطے محدود رہے ہیں اور وزراء کی سطح پر دورے نہیں ہوئے۔

    نئی دہلی میں ہونے والا مکالمہ ایس سی او کے تحت ایک تہذیبی فورم ہے، جو دو طرفہ ملاقات کے بجائے رکن ممالک کے درمیان ثقافتی و تہذیبی تبادلے پر مرکوز ہے۔ اس دورے کے سلسلے میں پاکستانی اور بھارتی حکام کے درمیان کسی دو طرفہ ملاقات کا اعلان نہیں کیا گیا۔

    ترجمان دفترِ خارجہ نے ہفتے کے روز دورے کی تصدیق کی۔ نئی دہلی میں وزیر کے پروگرام کی مزید تفصیلات فوری طور پر دستیاب نہیں تھیں۔

    یہ دورہ ایسے وقت میں ہو رہا ہے جب پاکستان ایس سی او فورمز میں شرکت جاری رکھے ہوئے ہے۔ تنظیم کے اجلاس رکن ممالک کے درمیان باقاعدگی سے ہوتے ہیں، اور پاکستان حالیہ برسوں میں دیگر رکن ممالک میں ہونے والے ایس سی او پروگراموں میں شریک رہا ہے۔

    موسمیاتی تبدیلی جنوبی ایشیا میں علاقائی مباحث کا ایک بار بار زیرِ بحث آنے والا موضوع رہا ہے، جو شدید موسمی حالات سے سب سے زیادہ متاثرہ خطوں میں سے ایک ہے۔

    مبصرین دیکھیں گے کہ آیا اس دورے کے دوران مکالمے کے موقع پر دونوں ممالک کے حکام کے درمیان کوئی رابطہ ہوتا ہے۔ فی الحال اس دورے کو ایک کثیرالجہتی فورم میں شرکت کے طور پر پیش کیا گیا ہے۔

  • Pakistan Climate Minister to Visit India for SCO Dialogue

    Pakistan Climate Minister to Visit India for SCO Dialogue

    Pakistan will send its climate minister, Musadik Masood Malik, to a regional meeting in India later this month, a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.

    According to the spokesperson, the minister will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue in New Delhi, scheduled for 20–22 November 2026.

    It would be the first visit to India by a Pakistani minister in more than three years. The last such high-level visit was in May 2023, when then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari travelled to Goa for a meeting of SCO foreign ministers.

    The SCO is a political and security grouping spanning much of Eurasia, including China and Russia among its members. The grouping was founded in 2001 and has grown into one of the largest regional organisations in the world by population and geography. Its members cooperate on security, trade and cultural ties, and its meetings rotate among member states.

    Relations between Islamabad and New Delhi have been strained, Reuters noted, since a four-day war in 2025. Diplomatic contacts between the two countries have remained limited since then, and ministerial-level visits have not taken place.

    The dialogue in New Delhi is a civilisational forum under the SCO framework, focused on cultural and civilisational exchanges among member states rather than a bilateral meeting. No bilateral meeting between Pakistani and Indian officials has been announced in connection with the visit.

    The foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed the visit while speaking on Saturday, according to reports. Further details of the minister’s programme in New Delhi were not immediately available.

    The visit comes as Pakistan continues to take part in SCO forums. The grouping’s meetings are held regularly among member states, and Pakistan has attended SCO events in other member countries in recent years.

    Climate change has been a recurring theme in regional discussions in South Asia, one of the regions most exposed to extreme weather. Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate impacts, having faced severe floods in recent years.

    Observers will watch whether the visit leads to any contact between officials of the two countries on the sidelines of the dialogue. For now, the visit has been described as participation in a multilateral forum.

  • India Invites Pakistan to SCO Summit in New Delhi

    India Invites Pakistan to SCO Summit in New Delhi

    Islamabad: Pakistan has received an invitation from India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in New Delhi, the Foreign Office confirmed on Friday, saying a decision on participation will be taken by the country’s leadership after consultations.

    The Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed at the weekly briefing in Islamabad that the summit, the SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum, will be held in the Indian capital from November 20 to 22. He said the decision on Pakistan’s participation would follow institutional consultations and the completion of established procedures.

    India formally invited all ten SCO member states to the forum on October 28. The event is being organised jointly by India’s Ministry of External Affairs and its Ministry of Culture, and aims to deepen cultural engagement, encourage people-to-people contact and promote greater mutual understanding among member countries.

    According to reports, Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, has been invited to attend the forum. If Pakistan accepts, it would be one of the highest-level Pakistani visits to India since the confrontation between the two countries in May 2025, when India launched Operation Sindoor following the Pahalgam attack.

    First formal outreach since May 2025

    The invitation has drawn attention because it marks the first formal outreach from New Delhi to Islamabad since the May 2025 confrontation. Indian officials have clarified, however, that all ten SCO member states received invitations and that the arrangement is a multilateral initiative which should not be confused with India-Pakistan bilateral relations.

    The concept of the forum was put forward by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO summit in Tianjin in 2025 and subsequently endorsed by the organisation. The forum was announced by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on October 20.

    Pakistan currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for the 2026-27 term, having assumed the position on September 1 following the summit in Bishkek. Pakistan is scheduled to host the SCO summit in Islamabad in 2027.

    Kartarpur Corridor and Sikh pilgrims

    At the same briefing, the Foreign Office spokesperson said Pakistan had not imposed any visa restrictions on Indian citizens and had issued visas to an additional 4,000 Sikh pilgrims during the first six months of 2026. In 2025, Pakistan granted 9,318 visas to Indian pilgrims, while 9,000 Sikh and 248 Hindu pilgrims visited the country.

    He said India had kept pilgrim movement through the Kartarpur Corridor suspended since May 2025, adding that Pakistan was ready to welcome and facilitate Sikh pilgrims as soon as India lifted the restrictions. Islamabad was also looking forward to receiving Sikh pilgrims for celebrations marking the 557th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

    The spokesperson also discussed Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to promote regional stability, particularly its role in facilitating dialogue between Iran and the United States. He said Pakistan had acted as a sincere mediator in the Iran-US dispute, bringing two countries that had not held direct talks for 47 years to the negotiating table under one roof, and that Pakistan would continue its efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.

  • Pakistan Invited to SCO Summit, Kartarpur Open for Pilgrims

    Pakistan Invited to SCO Summit, Kartarpur Open for Pilgrims

    Pakistan has received an invitation from India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of Government meeting in New Delhi, the Foreign Office said on Friday, while confirming that the country is ready to welcome Sikh pilgrims through the Kartarpur Corridor.

    Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi shared the details at his weekly press briefing in Islamabad. He said India had invited Pakistan to the SCO meeting, which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from November 20 to 22, and that Pakistan had received the invitation.

    A decision on whether Pakistan will attend is still pending. According to the spokesperson, the decision will be taken keeping national interest and regional priorities in view, leaving the question open for now while the government weighs its options.

    On the Kartarpur Corridor, the spokesperson said Pakistan is ready to welcome Sikh pilgrims. India has suspended movement through the corridor since May 2025, so the crossing has not been in use for pilgrims travelling from the Indian side.

    Pakistan issued 9,318 visas to Sikh pilgrims in 2025 and 4,000 in the first six months of 2026, according to the Foreign Office. The corridor can handle more than 5,000 pilgrims a day, and preparations are under way for the 557th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, one of the most important occasions in the Sikh calendar.

    The Kartarpur Corridor links the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan with the Indian border, allowing Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their holiest sites without a visa. Its readiness matters to pilgrims hoping to attend the birth anniversary commemorations, and Pakistan’s statement signals that the facilities on its side are prepared to receive them.

    The SCO invitation and the Kartarpur message came in the same briefing, touching two separate strands of Pakistan’s regional engagement. The SCO meeting brings together the heads of government of member states to discuss economic and regional cooperation, while the corridor concerns the religious and people-to-people ties between Pakistan and the Sikh community.

    Separately, the spokesperson said a vessel from the Marshall Islands was attacked near the coast of Yemen in international waters. All 25 people aboard are safe, and a Pakistani ship is carrying out the rescue, according to the Foreign Office.

    Attention will now turn to Pakistan’s decision on the SCO meeting in the days ahead, and to whether movement through the Kartarpur Corridor resumes in time for the Guru Nanak birth anniversary celebrations.