Modi invited to Islamabad summit of SCO

Indian premier recently flew over Pakistani territory but didn’t greet anyone

PAKISTAN has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to an in-person meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Heads of Government, the ‘Times of India’ has reported.

The summit will be held in Islamabad on Oct 15-16. The council is the second-highest body of the SCO.

According to the Indian daily, Modi is unlikely to attend the SCO meeting, but he may send a delegate.

Pakistan has invited the Indian premier after a gap of eight years. Modi was last invited to a summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in 2016. That summit was cancelled after India boycotted it; the regional bloc has almost been ineffective since then.

Meanwhile, the Indian prime minister used the Pakistani airspace recently when he was going from Poland to his country. What raised eyebrows was that he didn’t greet the Pakistani leaders or the Pakistani people while flying over the country. International leaders usually greet each other on such occasions.   

The non-event shows the state of affairs currently obtaining between the two neighbouring countries. This is also the primary reason why analysts believe Modi will not attend the upcoming Islamabad summit.