The SCO was founded by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan at a summit in Shanghai in 2001. India has expressed strong interest in deepening its security cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS). India became an observer at the SCO in 2005

Islamabad: A report said on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely meet his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The SCO summit will take place on September 15-16, where leaders will discuss regional challenges.

During the conference, Sharif is likely to meet the presidents of China, Russia, and Iran as well as PM Modi, diplomatic sources told a media outlet.

The SCO summit is scheduled for September 15-16 where leaders of the organisation will sit together to discuss regional challenges, Daily Jang reported.

News agency IANS mentioned sources as saying that the SCO Foreign Ministers had reiterated in its July 28 meeting that the summit will be attended by the heads of SCO states.

After the meeting, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, who attended the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in Tashkent, said that there will not be a bilateral meeting between Pakistani and Indian leaders.

"There are no plans of any meetings between Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers in September," he said, further pointing out that both the countries are SCO members and are only engaged in the broad-based activities of the organisation.

He also said: "India is our neighbouring country. While one can decide on a lot of things, one cannot choose its neighbours, therefore, we should get used to living with them."

Bhutto added that after 2019, constructive dialogue with India became difficult, "while statements based on Islamophobia by Indian officials are further creating hurdles in dialogue".