India sends senior MEA official to Pak for SCO coordinators meet, Pg8

Key Highlights:

• India has dispatched Alok Dimri, a senior official from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and India's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) coordinator, to Pakistan.
• Dimri is attending the SCO national coordinators' meeting in Islamabad, marking India's participation in such a meeting in Pakistan after nearly two years.
• The meeting is being hosted by Pakistan, which holds the chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for 2026-27.
• India's presence reflects its policy of engaging with Pakistan within multilateral frameworks despite ongoing bilateral tensions.

Detailed Insights:

• The three-day meeting of SCO national coordinators in Islamabad, from September 28 to 30, 2026, aims to discuss the program of activities under Pakistan's chairmanship.
• Pakistan's chairmanship theme for the SCO is "Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity".
• India's participation comes despite its consistent stance that "terror and talks can't go together" for bilateral engagements with Pakistan.
• The article references "Operation Sindoor" and a "military confrontation" in May last year, which refers to India's military response on May 7, 2025, following the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22, 2025.
• The Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, primarily tourists, and was attributed to The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
• Both India and Pakistan became full members of the SCO in 2017.
• Pakistan is anticipated to extend an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the SCO Council of Heads of State summit, which it is scheduled to host in Islamabad in August 2027.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): A Eurasian political, economic, and security organization established in 2001, with India and Pakistan joining as full members in 2017.
• Ministry of External Affairs (MEA): The Indian government agency responsible for the conduct of foreign relations.
• Operation Sindoor: An Indian military operation launched on May 7, 2025, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
• Pahalgam terror attack: A terrorist attack on April 22, 2025, in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians and was attributed to The Resistance Front (TRF).