Full Breakdown
India to Host First SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum, Invites Pakistan’s Culture Minister
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
- India will host the inaugural Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi, beginning on November 20 and lasting three days. The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of External Affairs are co-organising the event, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate it. Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, has been invited, marking the first invitation of a Pakistani senior minister since the May 2025 hostilities.
Background & Context
- The SCO is a 10-nation bloc that includes China, Russia, Iran, Belarus and several Central Asian states. At the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025, Prime Minister Modi proposed a “Civilisational Dialogue Forum” to deepen cultural cooperation; the proposal was later adopted by the SCO Council.
- India has historically refrained from South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meetings in Islamabad but has continued to engage with Pakistan within the SCO framework, including participation in the SCO-Regional Anti-Terror Structure (RATS). In September 2026, India sent SCO National Coordinator Alok Dimri to Islamabad ahead of Pakistan’s scheduled SCO presidency and the leaders’ summit planned for August 2027.
Data & Statistics
- The forum will involve culture ministers from all ten SCO member states and delegations from more than 25 countries, encompassing the 15 dialogue partners and observer nations linked to the SCO. Each participating state may send the culture minister plus up to four additional representatives—senior officials, scholars, cultural-heritage professionals or representatives of relevant cultural institutions.
- The venue is Delhi’s Purana Quila, a 16th-century fort that displays archaeological layers spanning roughly 3,000 years of Indian history, from the Pre-Mauryan period through the Mughal era.
Official Statements & Responses
- MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George said on August 27 that India treats the SCO as “an important organisation” and that decisions about the level of participation in future SCO events—including any possible visit by the Indian prime minister to Pakistan—will be taken by the appropriate authority at the appropriate time.
Why It Matters
- The dialogue will feature four thematic sessions: monastic trails (religion and philosophical traditions), art and architecture, language-literature-script-manuscript traditions, and cultural expressions and living traditions. By hosting the forum, India seeks to reinforce its soft-power outreach within the SCO while navigating a delicate bilateral relationship with Pakistan after the 2025 Operation Sindoor and the preceding Pahalgam terror attack. The event also offers SCO members a platform to showcase common heritage, potentially easing geopolitical tensions through cultural diplomacy.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
- Sources differ on the exact duration of the forum: three outlets (The Hindu, New Indian Express, Indian Express) state the event will run from November 20 for three days, while the Indian Express specifies a two-day span ending later. No official clarification on the end date has been released.
- Pakistan has not confirmed the composition of its delegation, leaving uncertainty about whether Minister Khichi will attend.
What’s Next
- The forum is scheduled to commence on November 20. Further details on participating delegations and the final agenda are expected to be released by the organising ministries in the weeks leading up to the event.