NEW DELHI: Fifteen countries, including China, Kazakhstan, Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, have confirmed their participation in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Civilisational Dialogue Forum, being hosted by India.
Speaking at a press conference, Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Friday that Pakistan had also been invited to the event but was yet to confirm its participation.
“Pakistan's civilization and cultural development are no different from ours. It has been less than 100 years, in fact, less than 80 years, since it separated from us. Otherwise, their evolution happened right alongside ours. On this subject at least, there should not be any differences between us, nor is there any possibility of them. I should be hopeful, they will attend, their participation will be confirmed,” said Shekhawat when asked about neighbouring countries' participation.
The Civilisational Dialogue Forum, which India will host at the historic Purana Qila in New Delhi from November 20-22, will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the inaugural ceremony on November 20, while several sessions will be held on November 21 and 22 around four broad themes, including civilisational and cultural expression, art and architecture, and language, literature and manuscripts.
It is learnt that Pakistan’s National Heritage and Culture Minister Aurangzeb Khan Khichi has been invited to the meeting. It is perhaps for the first time that New Delhi has extended an invitation to a senior minister from Pakistan to attend an event in India after last year’s May 7-10 military hostilities following Operation Sindoor.
Earlier, the then Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, visited Goa for the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in May 2023.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017. Iran became a member in 2023.
Countries that have confirmed their participation include China, Kazakhstan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Sri Lanka, the minister said.
Asked to name some of the countries that have confirmed their participation, Shekhawat said invitations were sent to 25 countries, out of which 15 had confirmed their participation.
He asserted that culture has the power to initiate dialogue and build bridges of trust between countries and civilisations.
Shekhawat said that India’s aim was to ensure that the SCO was not merely a geopolitical and economic platform but also a forum for shared civilisational heritage and human values.
Deliberations will be held on four major themes, including civilisation and cultural expressions, and art and architecture, the minister added.
“An effort will be made to understand how, over the past centuries, these cultures and cultural expressions of ours have developed by drawing inspiration from one another and influencing each other, and how they have impacted one another. The second theme in this will be art and architecture. Through these, an effort will be made to understand how artistic influences and shared heritage have evolved across different civilisations,” he said.
Besides its member countries, the SCO has some observer states and dialogue partners. There are 15 countries with SCO dialogue partner status, namely, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, Laos, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Sri Lanka, according to the SCO website.
The SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of External Affairs.