ISLAMABAD: India’s national coordinator for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Alok Dimri, said on Wednesday that the regional bloc could make further progress on connectivity, trade and transit, during a rare official visit to Pakistan amid strained ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Dimri was in Islamabad from September 28 to 30 for meetings held under Pakistan’s presidency of the SCO, marking one of the few recent opportunities for sustained official interaction between Indian and Pakistani officials.
Talking to reporters, he said SCO activities would continue throughout the year before culminating in a leaders’ summit in Islamabad in 2027.
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“This is a journey in which the member states of the Eurasian and Asian landmass have come together on the SCO platform, and we have designed an agenda for our well-being, prosperity and welfare,” he said.
His remarks came more than a year after India and Pakistan fought a four-day military conflict in May 2025 involving artillery, fighter aircraft, missiles and drones.
The two countries have maintained limited official engagement since 2019, when India revoked the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Diplomatic ties were subsequently downgraded, with neither country currently having an ambassador posted in the other’s capital. Their diplomatic missions are headed by chargé d’affaires.
Against this backdrop, the SCO has remained one of the few multilateral forums providing a channel for regular official contact between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Dimri said connectivity would remain an important area of focus for the organisation.
“Connectivity is very important in this, regional connectivity, trade and transit. These are some of the important issues that have been discussed, and progress is being made going forward,” he said.
Dimri also said English could be introduced as an additional working language of the SCO under Pakistan’s presidency.
Discussions within the organisation have traditionally been conducted in Russian and Chinese.
“So far, discussions among our member states in the SCO have taken place in Russian and Chinese. Now, perhaps, English may also be introduced under the Pakistani presidency,” he added.
The development comes as Pakistan seeks to use its SCO presidency to advance regional connectivity, trade and cooperation, while the organisation continues to bring together countries with differing and, at times, competing strategic interests.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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