Islamabad, Aug 29: Pakistan has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation heads of government meeting being organised here in October, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said here on Thursday.
India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.
The SCO Summit will be preceded by a ministerial meeting and several rounds of senior officials’ meetings focusing on financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among the SCO member states.
The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.
When asked about ties with India, the spokesperson said, “Pakistan does not have direct bilateral trade with India.”
Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament suspended Article 370 on August 5, 2019, a decision that Islamabad believed undermined the environment for holding talks between the neighbours.
