India invites Pakistan defence minister for SCO meeting

India has invited Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to be held in New Delhi in April.  The Indian government shared the formal invitation with the Pakistan's Foreign Office on Tuesday. With India currently holding the presidency of the SCO, it is set to host a series of meetings. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation comprises China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Earlier, India invited Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial as well as shared an invitation for the meeting of foreign ministers of SCO. The chief justice, however, skipped the meeting of the SCO chief justices and instead Justice Muneeb Akhtar attended the meeting through a video link recently. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became permanent members of the Beijing-based SCO in 2017.