India on Thursday extended an invitation to all eight members of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO), including Pakistan, for the meeting scheduled to be hosted by New Delhi later this year. India for the first time will host the annual meeting of the heads of SCO members states at New Delhi later in the year. China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are 8 member states which form the grouping. Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia hold observer status

New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to snub India’s invitation to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) summit scheduled to be hosted by India in New Delhi later this year.

Khan is instead likely to send a representative of his government to the SCO meet in India, said reports. Instead of attending the summit himself, the Pakistani prime minister is likely to send a junior minister given deteriorating relations between New Delhi and Islamabad since Balakot airstrike last year.

"Given the deterioration in India-Pakistan relationship since the airstrikes at Balakot terror camp in Pakistan, Prime Minister Khan will find it very hard to justify his visit to India. He will skip the SCO meeting. Most likely, he will send his foreign minister," a source told IANS.

Earlier in the day, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that an invitation will be extended to all eight members of the economic and security bloc which was founded by China in 2001. Both India and Pakistan were made members just three years ago.

The eight-member states that comprise SCO are – India, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia hold observer status in the grouping.