Government backs SCO connectivity, but PM's Pakistan visit uncertain
India is weighing whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the upcoming SCO heads of state summit in Pakistan. While Indian officials have participated in preparatory meetings, a final decision on the PM's attendance remains contingent on Pakistan's actions regarding cross-border terrorism.
Why it matters
The decision highlights the ongoing diplomatic tension between India and Pakistan and the challenges of maintaining regional multilateral cooperation amidst security concerns.
NEW DELHI: India's participation in the SCO meeting of national coordinators in Islamabad to firm up the calendar for high-level meetings has sparked speculation about whether PM Modi would travel to Pakistan for the heads of state summit next year. Modi has missed only one of the seven in-person summits since India became a full member of the Eurasian bloc in 2017, but officials said his past attendance is no guarantee of a visit even for a multilateral event to Pakistan, a country India has come to describe as a serial practitioner of terrorism.Additional secretary Alok Dimri travelled to Pakistan this week for the national coordinators' meeting, as first reported by TOI on Monday.
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