Pak 80 years old, can't appropriate Indus Valley civilisation: Culture minister

Culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Friday expressed hope that Pakistan will participate in the first SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum in Delhi from Nov 20 to 22, even as he trashed Pakistan's attempts to appropriate Indus Valley civilisation, pointing out that the neighbouring nation came into existence only around 80 years ago. Fifteen countries, including China, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, have confirmed their participation for the event, which India will host at the historic Purana Quila complex. Pakistan is yet to respond to the invite. PM Narendra Modi will attend the inaugural ceremony of the dialogue forum, where India will showcase its 5,000-year-old civilisational journey. Shekhawat highlighted that PM had proposed the establishment of a Civilisational Dialogue Forum at the 2025 SCO Summit in Tianjin, and it was subsequently, welcomed and endorsed, with India announcing to host the inaugural forum. The invitation to Pakistan gains significance as it happens to be the first New Delhi has extended after Operation Sindoor last year. Ministers of 25 countries were invited, of which 15 countries have confirmed participation so far, he added. When asked about attempts by a "neighbouring country" to appropriate Indus Valley civilisation, he said if a country is trying to make such a claim, the question to ask is that "did they even exist then". "They (Pakistan) came into existence only around 80 years ago..." he said. The minister noted that Pakistan's civilisational and cultural evolution is no different from India as the former became a separate country after Partition in 1947. "So, at least on this aspect there should be no space for differences... Moreover, whatever may be a country's geopolitical, strategic and bilateral ties, one must take a step forward to reinforce cultural relations so that it can help build better dialogue and coordination between people of the two countries," he said. The minister said Purana Qila provides an appropriate setting for the forum as the archaeological excavations at the site have revealed cultural layers and evidence of early settlements dating back to approximately 1200 BCE. The four broad themes of the dialogue are civilisational and cultural expressions; art and architecture; language, literature, script and manuscript traditions; and monastic trails.