ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi from November 20 to 22, and has nominated its Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Dr Musadik Masood Malik, to represent the country, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an official statement on Saturday, news agency ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

“The Government of Pakistan has nominated Dr. Musadik Masood Malik, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, to represent Pakistan at the SCO Civilisational Dialogue to be held in New Delhi from 20 to 22 November 2026,” the statement read. Islamabad said it remains committed to “promoting dialogue among civilisations and fostering people-to-people contacts within the SCO framework in a spirit of mutual respect.”

Follow-up to India's SCO invitation

India had confirmed a day earlier that invitations had gone to all 10 SCO member states, including Pakistan, for the first Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi. Pakistan has now named the minister who will attend. Read the earlier story

If the visit goes ahead, it will be the first trip to India by a Pakistani federal minister in more than three years — the last was then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's visit to Goa in May 2023 for an SCO meeting — and the first ministerial visit since the military confrontation between the two countries in May 2025, The Hindu and the Hindustan Times reported.

Source: The Hindu / Hindustan Times via NewsPlainly

India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed a day earlier that invitations had gone to SCO members and other countries. “Several countries, including the SCO members, have been invited to this dialogue, which is to take place in New Delhi, and that is where it is. We look forward to hosting this Civilizational Dialogue,” Jaiswal said, according to ANI.

The forum will be held at Purana Qila in New Delhi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to attend the opening on November 20 and Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat leading the Indian side, the Indian Express reported. India had invited Pakistan's National Heritage and Culture Minister Aurangzeb Khan Khichi; Islamabad has nominated its climate minister instead.

The Civilisational Dialogue is an Indian initiative, announced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on October 20 at the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to promote cultural exchange and people-to-people ties across Eurasia. Pakistan formally assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for 2026-27 on September 1. The SCO has 10 member states — Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — and India, a full member since 2017, has also invited observer states and dialogue partners to the forum.