Pakistan to Chair SCO After Bishkek Summit

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will mark its 25th anniversary with a summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on September 1. President Sadyr Japarov will host leaders from ten member states, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The summit is expected to produce the Bishkek Declaration, which rejects unilateral sanctions and supports a multipolar world order. Key agenda items include institutional reforms, currency diversification for settlements, and the potential creation of an SCO Development Bank.

Following the summit, Pakistan will assume the SCO chairmanship for a one-year term. Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are both scheduled to attend the Bishkek event. Pakistan intends to host the subsequent summit in Islamabad in 2027 and has stated it will invite all member states, including India.

The Ministry of External Affairs of India clarified that it will engage with the SCO as an institution regardless of Pakistan's chairmanship, though it maintains a strict policy against terrorism. Separately, Pakistan's Foreign Office expressed openness to dialogue with the interim Afghan government, provided Kabul prevents Afghan soil from being used by hostile proxies such as the TTP and BLA.