Islamabad- Despite fresh verbal exchanges between Pakistan and India at the United Nations General Assembly, the two countries displayed a cordial interaction during a multilateral SCO meeting in Islamabad.

India’s SCO National Coordinator and Additional Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs, Alok Dimri, warmly greeted Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar with a handshake during the concluding session of the three-day meeting of the SCO Council of National Coordinators.

Footage released by Pakistan’s Foreign Office showed Dimri later standing between Ishaq Dar and Pakistan’s SCO National Coordinator Dr Muhammad Faisal.

The interaction came shortly after Pakistan and India exchanged sharp remarks at the UN General Assembly. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar had accused Pakistan of being a “serial practitioner of terrorism” while responding to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s address. Islamabad rejected the allegations and reiterated its position on Kashmir and the 2025 military confrontation between the two countries.

During his visit, Dimri spoke positively about his first trip to Pakistan, saying he was happy to be in Islamabad. He also expressed a desire to visit Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot.

Dimri said Lahore’s designation as an SCO cultural city could provide opportunities for the Indian delegation to participate in cultural activities during Pakistan’s year-long chairmanship. He also highlighted connectivity, trade, transit and regional prosperity as important areas of the SCO’s agenda.

Pakistan assumed the SCO’s rotating chairmanship for 2026-27 on September 1 under the theme, “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity.”

The national coordinators reviewed activities planned under Pakistan’s chairmanship and discussed preparations for upcoming SCO meetings and events. They also visited the Pakistan National Council of the Arts and Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium, where they were briefed on preparations for an SCO hockey tournament scheduled for November 20 to December 2.

The meeting also carries significance because Pakistan is scheduled to host the SCO Council of Heads of State summit in August 2027. India has not yet announced whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the summit in Islamabad.

The Indian government has previously stated that a decision on Modi’s participation and the level of Indian representation would be taken at the appropriate time.

The presence of India’s senior SCO official in Islamabad and his cordial public interaction with Pakistan’s foreign minister highlight that, despite continuing bilateral tensions, Pakistan and India maintain engagement through multilateral platforms such as the SCO.