Modi invites Imran to attend SCO meet in Delhi

ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Prime Minister Imran Khan to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting being organized in New Delhi on November 30.

He gave the invitation to all the eight members and four observer countries on Tuesday during the online summit of the organization held in Moscow chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Well-placed sources told The News Tuesday evening that the Russian president appreciated Pakistan’s proposals on various counts.

Modi who tried to demean the objectives of the SCO tried to take on Pakistan and China in same stroke without naming them under the garb of respect of sovereignty and said in muffled words that India believed that to enhance connectivity it was important that we move forward while respecting one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He boasted that India had always been resolute in working in sync with principles laid out in the SCO charter, but it was unfortunate that there had been repeated efforts to unnecessarily bring bilateral issues in the SCO agenda which was in violation of the SCO spirit.

It was an assault on Pakistan and China’s policies of enhancing connectivity in the region.

Modi referred to Shanghai spirit and SCO charter, but he conveniently forgot that it was India that had humiliated the two documents by its actions and inactions.

Diplomatic sources said none of the significant member countries prime ministers will attend the New Delhi virtual meeting except Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Khan may not be available to attend the heads of government meeting.

The sources hinted that Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood or Additional Foreign Secretary Syed Faisal Tirmizi may represent Pakistan in the meeting.