India Calls Regional Grouping SCO Members, Including Pak, China, For Meet

New Delhi: 

India has invited Pakistan and China to the next round of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Convention) foreign ministers’ meet due in Goa in May, sources have said. Sources in Pakistan have confirmed that Pak foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto has received the invite, though Islamabad is yet to take a call on attending. An invitation has gone China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang, sources said.

Foreign ministry sources, however, said invitations are being sent to all member nations. Besides Pakistan and China, the eight-member grouping includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The invite to Pakistan comes shortly after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s “we have learnt our lesson” comment.  

In an interview with Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV last week, Mr Sharif had said, “We have had three wars with India, and they have only brought more misery, poverty, and unemployment to the people… We have learnt our lesson, and we want to live in peace with India, provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems”.