India not invited by Pak for cultural event under Shanghai summit

New Delhi, Sep 19: India was not invited for the cultural event organised by Pakistan on Thursday under the aegis of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) military drill in Russia, Army sources said.

This year's Exercise TSENTR 2019 is being conducted by the Central Military Commission of Russia from September 9-23. Apart from host Russia, military contingents from China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan are participating in the drill.

The Army sources said every day, one participating country organises a cultural event.

"Thursday was marked for Pakistan but it did not send any invitation to India," an Army official said.

The Army official added that India organised its cultural event on September 12 and had even printed invitations for all participating countries but the Pakistani delegation had not arrived in Russia by then.

Sources said China's Lt Gen Koi Xiaowu was present for the cultural event organised by India. China too had invited India for its cultural programme and dinner. The already tumultuous India-Pakistan ties have strained further after the government abrogated provisions of Article 370.

Last week, Pakistan skipped the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference on military medicine here. The Ministry of External Affairs had said Pakistan was invited for the medical conference but it did not turn up for the event.