Pakistan to Send Minister to India for First Time Since 2023 as Musadik Malik Named for SCO Forum

01. Islamabad confirms its representative

Pakistan has nominated Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Musadik Masood Malik to represent the country at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue in New Delhi from 20 to 22 November.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced the nomination on Saturday. It means a Pakistani federal minister will visit India for the first time since former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in May 2023 — and the first such visit since the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025.

02. A different name from the invitation

India had invited Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, to the forum. Pakistan has instead nominated Malik, its climate change minister, to lead its delegation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on X that Pakistan, which is chairing the SCO Council of Heads of State in 2026-27, will take part in the dialogue in New Delhi this month.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the government remains committed to promoting dialogue among civilisations through the SCO platform and to strengthening people-to-people contacts in a spirit of mutual respect.

03. What the forum is

The SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum is the first of its kind. It will be held at New Delhi’s historic Purana Quila and is jointly organised by India’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of External Affairs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the three-day event, which will bring together representatives from the SCO’s 10 member states and more than 25 countries.

The initiative was proposed by Modi at the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025 and was later adopted by the grouping. It focuses on cultural understanding, shared heritage, languages, literature and philosophical traditions.

India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has confirmed that invitations went to all SCO members, dialogue partners and one observer, and said New Delhi looks forward to hosting the event.

04. What it does not mean

Neither government has announced a bilateral meeting between Malik and Indian officials, and there is no confirmed agreement to restart broader political dialogue. The visit is participation in a multilateral SCO event, not a diplomatic breakthrough on its own — but it is the first ministerial-level contact on Indian soil in more than three years.

Sources: ANI, The Hindu, Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Kerala. The nomination was announced by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on 14 November 2026.