Culture Minister says he is “hopeful” Pakistan will attend India’s first Shanghai Cooperation Organisation civilisational forum, to be opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 20.

Fifteen countries, including China, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have confirmed their participation in the inaugural Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue Forum, which India will host in Delhi from November 20 to 22. Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced the confirmations at a press interaction at Bharat Mandapam on Friday, November 13, and said that he was hopeful Pakistan would also attend.

Who Has Confirmed

Shekhawat said invitations were sent to 25 countries and 15 have confirmed so far. The countries named are China, Kazakhstan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Sri Lanka. That is 13 names; the remaining two have not been identified in the reports reviewed.

The SCO has ten member states: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan and Mongolia are observers, and the organisation also has dialogue partners, which include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkiye.

The Question of Pakistan

Pakistan’s National Heritage and Culture Minister, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, has been invited. Shekhawat said he was “hopeful” that Pakistan would attend, and that the decision would depend on the situation and the time remaining. No confirmation from Islamabad has been reported.

Asked whether India-Pakistan issues related to terrorism, and border issues with China, would be raised at the forum, Shekhawat replied by speaking about shared heritage. He said Pakistan’s civilisational and cultural evolution was not different from India’s, noting that it had separated from India less than 80 years ago and that the two had developed in parallel. He said India’s aim was to ensure that the SCO was not only a geopolitical and economic platform but also a forum for shared civilisational heritage and human values.

Programme and Venue

The forum will be held at the Purana Qila in New Delhi. Prime Minister Modi will attend the inaugural ceremony on November 20. Sessions will take place on November 21 and 22 around four broad themes, which include civilisational and cultural expression, art and architecture, and language, literature and manuscripts. One report says the discussions will also touch on joint nominations for UNESCO sites and the celebration of shared heritage.

The forum was proposed by Prime Minister Modi at the 2025 SCO summit in Tianjin, China.

Why It Matters

The forum is the first of its kind within the SCO and adds a cultural strand to a grouping best known for its security and economic agenda. It will also bring together delegations from several countries with which India has complicated relations, including China and Pakistan, at a time of strain in some of those ties. Attendance levels, and who represents each country, will be an indicator of how the invitation has been received.

What to Watch Next

The key developments are whether Pakistan confirms, which countries send ministers rather than lower-level delegations, and whether the forum produces joint declarations or cultural initiatives. The final guest list will be known when the forum opens on November 20.

 

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