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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will send a minister to India for a regional conference next week, Islamabad said Saturday, the first such visit since the two foes fought a four-day conflict last year.<\/p>\n
Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik will represent Pakistan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Civilizational Dialogue in New Delhi from November 20 to 22, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It will be the first trip to India by a Pakistani federal minister since former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended an SCO meeting in Goa in May 2023.<\/p>\n
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan share a deep distrust and have fought multiple wars since gaining independence in 1947, primarily over the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, which both countries claim.<\/p>\n
In May 2025, the countries fought a deadly four-day conflict after armed gunmen killed over two dozen tourists, mostly Hindus, in Kashmir.<\/p>\n
New Delhi has accused Islamabad of backing the attack, a charge vehemently denied by Pakistan.<\/p>\n
The attack triggered a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures, spiralling into intense exchanges of missile, drone and artillery fire and leaving more than 70 people dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government of Pakistan remains committed to promoting dialogue among civilizations and fostering people-to-people contacts within the SCO framework in a spirit of mutual respect,\u201d the foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n