SCO Indian Coordinator Alok Dimri Expresses Desire to Visit Three Cities
Indian diplomat Alok Dimri, visiting Islamabad for an SCO National Coordinators meeting, praised the federal capital’s greenery and cleanliness while also pointing to similarities with Chandigarh.
ISLAMABAD: Indian diplomat Alok Dimri has praised Islamabad’s greenery, cleanliness and planned urban character during his visit to the Pakistani capital for meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), offering a rare positive public assessment of the city by a senior Indian representative.
Dimri, who led the Indian delegation at the SCO Council of National Coordinators meeting in Islamabad, described the capital as beautiful, clean and green, according to remarks shared by journalist Khurram Iqbal on social media.
The three-day SCO National Coordinators meeting was held in Islamabad from September 28 to 30, bringing together representatives of the organisation’s member states. India participated with Dimri, a Joint Secretary in its Ministry of External Affairs and the country’s SCO National Coordinator, leading its delegation.
The meeting was the first gathering of the Council of National Coordinators under Pakistan’s 2026–27 SCO chairmanship. According to the SCO Secretariat, discussions covered Pakistan’s chairmanship programme as well as preparations for the upcoming Council of Heads of Government meeting and cooperation in political, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas.
Islamabad Compared With Chandigarh
Dimri’s comments about Islamabad attracted attention because they came amid an official Indian visit to Pakistan under the SCO framework. His comparison of Islamabad with Chandigarh also reflects the planned character and greenery associated with both cities, although the observation was his personal assessment rather than an official SCO position.
The Islamabad meeting is also significant in the broader SCO calendar. Pakistan assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State in September 2026 and is preparing to host the next heads-of-state summit in Islamabad in August 2027.
Despite longstanding differences between Islamabad and New Delhi, India has continued participating in SCO mechanisms. Its attendance at the latest Islamabad meeting was therefore part of the organisation’s multilateral diplomatic process rather than a bilateral Pakistan-India engagement.
