New Delhi: India will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) first Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi from November 20 to 22, with Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurungzeb Khan Khichi, among those invited to attend, diplomatic sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the three-day forum, which will bring together representatives from more than 25 countries at Purana Quila, the historic 16th-century fort in the national capital.
The Ministry of Culture is partnering with the Ministry of External Affairs to organise the event. The choice of Purana Quila as the venue underscores India’s emphasis on highlighting its historical and civilisational continuum while hosting a major multilateral cultural event.
The gathering is expected to feature discussions on civilisational linkages, cultural diplomacy and collaborative initiatives in the fields of heritage, education and traditional knowledge systems.
The initiative was proposed by Prime Minister Modi at the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025 and was subsequently adopted by the grouping.
Culture ministers from all 10 SCO member states, including Russia, China, the UAE, Iran and Belarus, have been invited, along with representatives from observer and dialogue partner countries.
Pakistan has yet to confirm who will represent it at the forum. If Minister Khichi attends, it would mark the first visit by a Pakistani minister to India since the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in 2023, which was attended by Bilawal Bhutto.
Despite strained bilateral relations, India has continued to engage with Pakistan within the SCO framework. In September 2026, India sent its SCO National Coordinator Alok Dimri to Islamabad for a meeting ahead of Pakistan’s presidency of the grouping and the planned SCO leaders’ summit scheduled for August 2027.
Officials said the Civilisational Dialogue Forum aims to promote cultural understanding, shared heritage and people-to-people exchanges among SCO member states and partner countries.
With participation expected from a wide range of countries, the forum is being viewed as an important platform for dialogue under India’s SCO engagement.
(IANS)
