SCO summit 2026 held in host country Kyrgyzstan: Pakistan takes the chair

By Prakhar Shahi

Published

Timeline: SCO founded 2001, Charter in force 2003, India joins 2017, 10 members in 2024, Bishkek summit 1 Sep 2026

Rajnath Singh's warning on terror financing came at a separate SCO meeting in Dushanbe on 20 October. The summit met in Bishkek on 1 September. A study note on the bloc's 10 members, its anti-terror body RATS, and India's record since joining in 2017.

Original report · Explained

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 20 October 2026 that the ecosystem of terrorism must be dismantled, The Economic Times reported (Economic Times, 2026). That was the heads-of-government meeting, not the summit: the SCO summit of 2026, the 26th meeting of the Council of Heads of State, was held in Kyrgyzstan, at the Yrys-Ordo Congress Hall in Bishkek, on 1 September 2026 (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov chaired the Bishkek summit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended, All India Radio reported (Akashvani News, 2026). The summit handed the SCO chair for 2026-27 to Pakistan (SCO Secretariat, 2026). In Dushanbe, Pakistan was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who sat across the table from Singh, ABP Live reported (SCO Secretariat, 2026; ABP Live, 2026). See how every outlet covered the Dushanbe meeting.

This study note sets out what the SCO is, how it is built, the dates that matter for India, and why New Delhi keeps raising terror financing at the bloc's meetings.

What it is

The SCO is a grouping of 10 member states, founded by six countries in Shanghai on 15 June 2001, its Secretariat says (SCO Secretariat, 2026). It also has 2 observers, Afghanistan and Mongolia, and 15 dialogue partners. The Secretariat puts its members' combined territory at about 36 million square kilometres and their population at over 3.4 billion.

It grew out of the Shanghai Five, whose border agreements of 1996-97 and Dushanbe Declaration of 4 July 2000 came before the organisation itself (SCO Secretariat, 2026). India and Pakistan became full members in 2017. Belarus's entry in 2024 took the count to 10, and the SCO's own site also lists Iran among the members.

Two permanent bodies run it day to day: a Secretariat in Beijing, and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. In all, the SCO counts 29 charter bodies and more than 40 working mechanisms (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

That anti-terror body is the thread that runs through India's record in the group.

Background and timeline

The dates that matter most for India run from its entry in 2017 to its refusal to sign a defence ministers' statement in 2025. The dates below come from the SCO Secretariat unless another source is named (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

The Qingdao episode shows how the SCO's rules work in practice.

What the law says

The SCO Charter is the organisation's founding treaty: signed on 7 June 2002, in force since 19 September 2003, and registered with the United Nations on 1 February 2013 (SCO Secretariat, 2026). The Agreement on the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure was signed alongside it. The Secretariat also lists the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighbourliness of 16 August 2007 among the SCO's basic texts.

The Charter is still changing. The Bishkek summit approved 28 documents, among them the Bishkek Declaration and a Protocol amending the SCO Charter (SCO Secretariat, 2026). The material we read does not set out what the protocol changes.

SCO texts are agreed by consensus. All India Radio's account of the June 2025 Qingdao meeting shows what that means: India declined to sign, so the defence ministers issued no joint statement at all (Akashvani News, 2025).

On India's side, none of the sources we read ties the country's membership to a specific article of the Constitution.

Institutions and committees

The SCO takes decisions through four councils and works through two permanent bodies, its Secretariat says (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

The list may grow. In Dushanbe, Singh welcomed making two more centres permanent SCO bodies: the Universal Centre in Tashkent and the Anti-Drug Centre in Dushanbe, The Economic Times reported (Economic Times, 2026).

The scale of the group explains why each of these meetings matters.

The numbers

The SCO's members cover over 3.4 billion people, by the Secretariat's 2026 count (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

That last figure sits behind the argument India made again this week.

Arguments for and against

India's case is that terrorism is an economic problem as well as a security one; the limits come from the SCO's own format. Each point below is attributed.

India's case:

The limits:

How those pulls play out depends on the next 12 months.

What happens next

Pakistan now holds the chair, and India has its own SCO event to host before the year ends.

Not yet known: the date and venue of the 2027 summit, and whether any text from Dushanbe names terror financing. We did not find either in the sources we read.

Questions people are asking

Where was the SCO summit 2026 held?

In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, at the Yrys-Ordo Congress Hall on 1 September 2026. It was the 26th meeting of the Council of Heads of State (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

Who chairs the SCO now?

Pakistan, for 2026-27 (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

How many members does the SCO have?

10, with 2 observers, Afghanistan and Mongolia, and 15 dialogue partners (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

Where is RATS headquartered?

In Tashkent. The SCO Secretariat is in Beijing (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

What was the SCO meeting in Dushanbe in October 2026?

The 25th Council of Heads of Government, on 20 October 2026, where Rajnath Singh led India (SCO Secretariat, 2026).

For students

Syllabus link

GS Paper II: International relations, groupings and agreements involving India.

Key terms

Prelims facts

(SCO Secretariat, 2026; Drishti IAS, 2022)

Mains practice question (250 words)

India declined to sign the SCO defence ministers' joint statement at Qingdao in June 2025, and pressed again for action against those who finance terrorism at Dushanbe in October 2026. Examine the usefulness and the limits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a forum for India's counter-terrorism concerns.

Prelims practice question

Consider the following statements about the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: (1) Its Secretariat is located in Beijing. (2) Its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure is headquartered in Dushanbe. (3) Pakistan chairs the organisation for 2026-27. Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 1 and 3 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3. Answer: (b). RATS is in Tashkent.

How we did this

On 21 October 2026 we read three primary pages from the SCO Secretariat: its About the SCO page, its account of the Bishkek summit and its account of the Dushanbe heads-of-government meeting. From them we built the dated timeline and the list of bodies above. We checked Singh's remarks against The Economic Times, Deccan Chronicle and ABP Live, and India's earlier positions against All India Radio and Drishti IAS.

The three news reports framed the meeting differently: The Economic Times led on terror financiers, ABP Live on Dar's seat across from Singh, and Deccan Chronicle on the Civilisational Dialogue Forum. Preparation sites mention a 2022 Prelims question on India's memberships, but we could not open the paper to confirm it, so we have left it out. The hero image is a timeline chart we drew from the Secretariat's dates; upload it with the story.

References

This story was produced, reviewed, edited and verified by the reporter before publication, with AI assistance where required.

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