SCO Meet: The Signals From 1st Official Indian Visit To Pakistan Since Op Sindoor, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• An Indian official, Alok Dimri, an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, visited Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) national coordinators’ meeting.
• This marks the first official Indian delegation visit to Pakistan since Operation Sindoor in 2025.
• Pakistan assumed the presidency of the SCO after the Bishkek summit on August 31-September 1, 2026, necessitating the meeting in Islamabad.
• The visit highlights India's pragmatic approach to multilateral engagement despite frozen bilateral ties with Pakistan.

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Detailed Insights:

• India's participation in the SCO meeting was an obligation as a member state, despite ongoing tensions with Pakistan and China.
• The visit allows India to gain situational awareness of Pakistan's plans and activities under its SCO presidency.
• India will closely monitor Pakistan's hosting of SCO meetings and any territorial misrepresentations in official documents, similar to India's G20 meeting in Kashmir in May 2023.
• A potential visit by Prime Minister Modi to Pakistan for the upcoming SCO leaders’ summit will be a significant political decision, given past boycotts and the freeze in bilateral relations.
• The article notes the "Trump factor" and his support for Pakistan's Army Chief, General Asim Munir, influencing regional dynamics until January 2029.
• India maintains a firm stance against provocative statements from Pakistan, particularly concerning Kashmir or terrorism, as demonstrated at the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa and the UN General Assembly.
• The border standoff with China since May 2020 is considered a more significant challenge for India, with multilateral contacts helping to manage tensions.
• India's "new normal" anti-terror doctrine, articulated by PM Modi on May 12, 2025, emphasizes guaranteed responses to terror attacks, no differentiation between state and non-state actors, and continued strikes on terrorist infrastructure.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): A Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance, primarily comprising China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• Operation Sindoor: A military operation mentioned in the article that occurred in 2025, leading to a significant downturn in India-Pakistan relations.
• Article 370: A former provision in the Constitution of India that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, abrogated in August 2019.
• G20: An intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union, working to address major issues related to the global economy.