SCO members discuss connectivity and trade at Islamabad coordinators' meet

India's SCO coordinator Alok A Dimri said connectivity, trade and transit dominated talks in Islamabad. He also confirmed member states backed a civilisational dialogue in New Delhi, signalling wider cooperation.Islamabad,Sep 30, 2026 21:16 ISTIndia's SCO National Coordinator Alok A Dimri on Tuesday said regional connectivity, trade and transit were among the key issues being discussed by members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation during a meeting in Islamabad.Speaking to PTV News on the sidelines of the three-day SCO national coordinators' meeting, Dimri also said member countries had agreed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a civilisational dialogue, which will be held in New Delhi on November 20.According to footage of the interview shared by Pakistan's Foreign Office, Dimri said the SCO offered a platform where countries from Eurasia and the wider Asian landmass had come together and that "we have designed an agenda for our well-being, prosperity and welfare". He said, "Connectivity is an important point. Regional connectivity, trade, transit... are important issues, which have been discussed and progress is also being made."The SCO is a Eurasian regional grouping focused on political, security, economic and cultural cooperation among its 10 member states: China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus. Dimri said it was a regional framework bringing together countries from North Asia, East Asia and Central Asia, and added, "we will be able to convey to the world our languages, our voices and our thoughts through the SCO". The meeting in Islamabad is being held under Pakistan's 2026-27 chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State. It is meant to discuss the organisation's programme of activities, preparations for upcoming meetings and other items on its agenda. It is also part of preparations for the SCO Council of Heads of State summit that Pakistan will host in August 2027.The Indian delegation's participation in the meeting is the first such high-level visit to Pakistan since last year's brief conflict between the two countries. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had led India's delegation to the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad on October 15-16, 2024. Dimri said this was his first visit to Pakistan and that such visits would continue through the SCO platform as its programmes would run through the year. "My first visit is only to Islamabad but what I wanted to see was Lahore, Sialkot and Faisalabad," he said, adding that Lahore had been declared an SCO cultural city. He said these programmes would culminate with the Islamabad summit and expressed hope that cooperation in different areas under the SCO would improve.Dimri's remarks highlighted the focus on connectivity, trade, transit and broader cooperation at the SCO meeting, while also underlining the next steps in the group's calendar, including the New Delhi civilisational dialogue and the Islamabad summit in 2027.With PTI Inputs- Ends