SCO Summit: India's Invitation to Pak is a Diplomatic Opening After Op Sindoor

The invite to Khichi is the first step, but will India continue on the path to pacifism, asks Vivek Katju.

If Khichi participates in this meeting, it will be the first occasion for a ministerial level visit from India’s western neighbour since that of its then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto in May 2023.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

India is hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) first meeting of the Civilisational Dialogue Forum in Delhi on 20-22 November. The idea of such a forum originated from an Indian proposal at the organisation’s Heads of States summit in China's Tianjin last year.

At this year’s Heads of States summit in Bishkek, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address said, “Last year, India proposed the SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum. I'm pleased that its first session will be held in India... I'm confident that with the active participation of all of you, this forum will become a strong platform for vibrant dialogue within the SCO.”

The Bishkek summit communique “welcome[d] the convening of the SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum in autumn 2026 in India.”  

Having called for the “active participation” of all SCO member-states, observers and dialogue partners, it was only fitting that India extended an invitation to Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, to participate in the forum. Pakistan has not yet responded to India’s invitation.

If Khichi participates in this meeting, it will be the first occasion for a ministerial-level visit from India’s neighbour since that of its then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto in May 2023. Bhutto had come to India for the SCO’s foreign ministers meeting. The last time an Indian minister had visited Pakistan was when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had represented India at the SCO Heads of Governments meeting in Islamabad in October 2024. 

The invitation to Khichi is in the context of the SCO. Yet, it has been reported prominently in the Indian media. This is because of the lack of contact between the two countries since Operation Sindoor last May. 

Is the invitation to Khichi a sign that Modi wishes to begin to thaw India-Pakistan bilateral ties which have been in the freezer since Operation Sindoor?

History of Hostilities

India sent Alok Dimri, a senior diplomat and National SCO Coordinator, to Pakistan last month to take part in the organisation’s annual meeting of these officials. This was also a specific visit in the SCO context though Dimri expressed hope that he would be able to visit Pakistani cities other than the capital in the future.

The next Heads of States summit will be held in Islamabad in August 2027. Before that, a number of ministerial-level meetings will also be held in Pakistan. These will include a foreign ministers meeting as well. Unless some negative bilateral development occurs, it is almost certain that Jaishankar will attend that meeting. 

What needs to be watched is if Jaishankar would meet his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of that meeting. That would indicate that India has decided to take steps to normalise bilateral ties. This is because Indian leaders have not met any of their Pakistani counterparts on the sidelines of international or multilateral meetings since Operation Sindoor.

Indeed, Modi has not had a structured meeting with any Pakistani Prime Minister since his visit to Raiwind on Christmas Day 2015. The Pathankot airbase attack followed within 10 days of that visit. Modi soldiered on for months to keep hopes alive for bringing a modicum of normalcy in bilateral ties, but the Uri attack of September 2016 put paid to that effort.

And, in the decade since then, India-Pakistan relations have only witnessed negative developments: the Pulwama terrorist attack of 2019 followed by India’s Balakot air strike and the Pahalgam terrorist attack of 2025 which resulted in Operation Sindoor. At the same time, Pakistan took umbrage at India’s decision to bring about the constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 and launched a bitter campaign to heap calumny on India, and in particular, on the Sangh Parivar. 

Two-Nation Theory

Pakistan has continued with its traditional propaganda campaign against India involving the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and of pursuing hegemonistic policies in the region. An additional element has been added to this campaign by accusing India of sponsoring militant attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan through Afghanistan.

Pakistanis feel that India is using the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch militant groups—and that the Afghan Taliban authorities are helping India in this endevour. These accusations are false because the TTP and the Baloch groups have been alienated from Pakistan because of its discriminatory policies against these two provinces. Balochistan has been under the heel of the Pakistani army and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which has been governed by Imran Khan’s party, is caught up in the bitter conflict between the former Prime Minister and Chief of Defence Forces and Army Chief Asim Munir.

For his part, Munir, who has now reduced Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the elected government to be the instrument of his will, has publicly invoked the two-nation theory at times. He has asked the Pakistani people not to forget the causes that led to the establishment of Pakistan.

While the Pakistani army considers itself to be the guardian of the country’s frontiers and its foundational principles, no army chief has invoked the two-nation theory in the past few decades as Munir has done. This is not indicative that he wants to mend India-Pakistani ties. This is also confirmed by the boost he has got because of international praise for his mediation efforts to end the Iran war, which has taken his attention to the global canvas. 

All this means is that neither India nor Pakistan has an appetite to try to mend bilateral ties.

Of Olive Branches

The Bishkek summit declaration noted, “The member-states emphasise that the SCO region is the cradle of ancient civilisations, world religions, and traditional beliefs. It stands as a repository of outstanding cultural and scientific achievements, as well as a rich spiritual heritage of the peoples of the member-states that has become an integral part of the shared historical legacy of humanity.”

It will be interesting to observe India and Pakistan's approaches at the forum. It can be anticipated that while noting the diversity of the region, India will emphasise how Buddhism travelled from India to the core of the SCO and thence to China and beyond. On its part, Pakistan, through whoever represents it, will stress the Islamic heritage of the region.  

Will Indian negotiators of the document that emerges from the first meeting of the forum succeed in projecting that India, even while emphasising Indic elements, is home to a composite culture that blends the civilisational elements of the SCO region?

That will require imagination and flexibility and a return to the thoughts and language of India’s traditional diplomacy. There have been occasions when there has been a departure from these elements in some Indian statements in international forums over the past few years.

(The writer is a former Secretary [West], Ministry of External Affairs. He can be reached @VivekKatju. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author's own. The Quint does not endorse or is responsible for them.)