Why India has sent a senior diplomat to Pak for the first time since Op Sindoor

India has sent a delegation led by senior diplomat Alok Amitabh Dimri to a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Islamabad. He is the most senior Indian official to visit Pakistan since the Pahalgam terror attack and the military confrontation in May 2025.Dimri, an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and India’s SCO National Coordinator, is attending the Council of National Coordinators meeting from September 28 to 30.It is the first such meeting under Pakistan’s 2026–27 chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State.Sources told India Today that the visit is confined to the SCO programme. No bilateral meeting with Pakistani officials is planned. “Bilateral talks need a terrorism-free, conducive environment. But we will engage with Pakistan under the format of SCO,” a source said.India and Pakistan have both been full SCO members since 2017. New Delhi has continued to attend meetings hosted by Pakistan despite strained bilateral ties. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Islamabad in October 2024 for a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government. Dimri’s visit comes more than 16 months after India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.India has maintained that talks and terrorism cannot go together. Attending the SCO meeting does not change that position, the sources said.National coordinators prepare the organisation’s work across member states. The Islamabad meeting is discussing Pakistan’s plans for its chairmanship and preparations for upcoming SCO meetings.India can also use the forum to put its positions on counter-terrorism and regional connectivity before other members.Pakistan is due to host the SCO Heads of State summit in Islamabad in 2027 and is expected to invite leaders of all member countries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.India’s level of representation will be decided closer to the summit, the sources said.- Ends