Pakistan’s climate minister Musadik Masood Malik will meet his Indian counterpart, Vijay Goel, in New Delhi later this month following his nomination to become part of a forum talks between the countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on civilizational dialogue in New Delhi.
The foreign ministry announced on Saturday that Malik has been nominated for the event and the country is determined to work towards any attempt for dialogue between civilisations and make more people-to-people contacts in the framework of SCO.
Such engagement is supposed to be done in a spirit of mutual respect among member countries, the ministry said.
In the event the visit goes ahead, Malik will be the first Pakistani Minister to visit India for over three years. The potential visit comes amid strained relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Indian-Pakistani relationship fell drastically in April 2025 after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that claimed the lives of 26 civilians.
Meanwhile, India followed official reports of terror launchpads in Pakistan by responding with Operation Sindoor, initiating military operations to neutralize these sites on May 6-7.
A ceasefire was declared on May 9 between the two countries, in which they battled with each other. But relationships have remained frosty since the escalation. The visit of Malik to the event organised by the SCO could be a unique occasion for high-level interaction between the two nuclear-armed nations amid the on-going diplomatic tension between India and Pakistan.
One multilateral forum for member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to discuss development cooperation, dialogue and other mutual interests is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. More information about Malik’s trip dates and involvement in the civilizational dialogue is awaited.v