Pakistan has extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with other leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), for the upcoming Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting in October this year, reported The Times of India.

However, it is unlikely that Modi will visit Islamabad, though it remains to be seen if he will delegate a minister to represent India, as has been done in the past, considering the strained relations between the two nations, the report added.

Pakistan is set to host the CHG meeting on October 15-16, as it currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the council, the second most important decision-making body within the SCO, following the Council of Heads of State. While Modi regularly attends the heads of state summits, he skipped the recent one in Kazakhstan due to a scheduling conflict with a Parliament session in early July.

Traditionally, India has sent a minister to represent the country at CHG meetings. Last year, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar attended the CHG gathering in Bishkek. It remains uncertain whether leaders who cannot attend the event in person will be permitted to participate virtually.

Both India and Pakistan are full members of the SCO, a group led by Russia and China, which India views as vital for regional security and collaboration with Central Asian nations.

However, India remains cautious of China's influence within the SCO and its efforts to position the organization as an anti-West platform. Unlike other member states, India has consistently refused to endorse China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in SCO joint statements. Additionally, during last year’s virtual heads of state summit hosted by Modi, India declined to support a long-term economic strategy proposed by the bloc, viewing it as skewed toward Chinese interests.

Despite ongoing tensions, the SCO is one of the few multilateral forums where India and Pakistan have managed to cooperate, despite the hostilities that have strained their relationship since 2015, when an attempt to restart dialogue was thwarted by subsequent terror attacks. Indian delegations have participated in SCO exercises held in Pakistan and vice versa, and Pakistan’s former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India last year for an SCO foreign ministers' meeting. This cooperation has been facilitated by the SCO Charter, which prohibits member states from raising bilateral issues.

The Indian government has yet to decide on the invitation for the CHG meeting, which was extended following SCO protocol. However, the recent terror attacks in Jammu are likely to discourage any high-profile ministerial visit to Pakistan. In a speech on Kargil Vijay Diwas last month, Modi directly criticised Pakistan, accusing it of learning nothing from history and attempting to stay relevant through terrorism and proxy warfare. The last visit to Pakistan by an Indian foreign minister was made by Sushma Swaraj in 2015.

Although Modi once had a close relationship with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s brother, Nawaz Sharif, the prospect of improved India-Pakistan relations remains slim. Pakistan seeks the reversal of India's decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status, while India insists that the only issue left to discuss with Pakistan concerning Kashmir is the illegal occupation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

(With Inputs From Agencies)