Jaishankar to visit Pakistan for SCO Summit, first Indian ministerial visit in nine years

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will travel to Pakistan next week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit scheduled for October 15–16, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on Friday. This will mark the first visit by an Indian minister to Pakistan in nearly nine years.

Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Jaishankar will represent India at the regional meeting, which brings together foreign ministers and heads of state from member countries to discuss security, economic cooperation, and regional connectivity.

Pakistan had formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the summit on August 29, extending the same invitation to all SCO member nations. However, India has decided that Jaishankar will lead its delegation.

The last high-level Indian visit to Pakistan took place in 2015, when Prime Minister Modi made an unannounced stop in Lahore to meet then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Later that year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also visited Islamabad for the Heart of Asia conference. No Indian minister has visited Pakistan since then.

The upcoming summit is being closely watched in diplomatic circles, as tensions between the two neighbours remain high despite both sides participating in multilateral forums such as the SCO.