The SCO meet is expected to see participation of the Russian NSA and the Chinese NSA also

The National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan along with their other counterparts will be in Dushanbe, Tajikistan next week for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s in-person meeting.

According to a WION report, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Pakistani NSA Moeed Yusuf along with NSAs of other countries will attend the meeting due on June 23 and 24.

Tajikistan is the chair of the grouping and took the chairmanship of the SCO at a meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council in November of 2020. Ahead of the meet, early June saw a protocol meeting to decide the nitty-gritty of the meet.

Next week's SCO NSAs meet is expected to see participation of Russian NSA Nikolai Patrushev and the Chinese NSA too.

Afghanistan is an observer member of SCO with Afghan NSA Hamdullah Mohib going to the city as part of his larger central Asia visit.

While there is no confirmation of Indian and Pakistani NSAs having a bilateral meeting, or pull aside, the development comes at a time when both New Delhi and Islamabad have been cautious in ties in the last few months.

SCO has 8 member states--Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and 4 central Asian countries--Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The year 2017 saw India and Pakistan officially joining the grouping as full-fledged members. November last year saw India hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization heads of government meeting virtually.