Archive · 29 Sep 2026
India Joins SCO Planning Meeting as Pakistan Begins Chairmanship
Indian officials have gone to Pakistan for a meeting about the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, or SCO.
The meeting lasts three days, from September 28 to 30.
Alok Dimri is leading India’s delegation.
Pakistan has taken over the SCO’s rotating leadership for 2026–27.
Officials are planning meetings and other activities for the year.
They are also beginning preparations for a larger SCO leaders’ summit in Islamabad in August 2027.
Pakistan says its theme is about connectivity, innovation and shared prosperity.
India and Pakistan have difficult relations and have not had major direct talks for about ten years.
Even so, their officials still meet through the SCO’s larger multilateral system.
An Indian delegation led by Alok Dimri is attending a three-day SCO coordinators’ meeting in Islamabad from September 28 to 30.
The meeting is the first Council of National Coordinators session under Pakistan’s 2026–27 SCO chairmanship, which began on September 1.
Participants are planning the SCO’s annual activities, ministerial meetings and preparations for the August 2027 heads-of-state summit in Islamabad.
Pakistan has adopted “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity” as its chairmanship theme.
India and Pakistan continue participating in SCO forums despite strained relations and no substantive bilateral talks in roughly a decade.
- Who
- An Indian delegation led by Alok Dimri and representatives of SCO member states, including Pakistan.
- What
- A three-day SCO Council of National Coordinators meeting to plan Pakistan’s chairmanship and prepare for the 2027 leaders’ summit.
- When
- September 28–30; Pakistan’s chairmanship runs from 2026 to 2027, with the summit planned for August 2027.
- Where
- Islamabad, Pakistan.
- Why
- To coordinate the SCO’s programme of activities, upcoming meetings and preparations for the 2027 summit.
Multilateral Engagement
Bilateral and Security Concerns
Continuing cooperation through the SCO
Multilateral Engagement
India and Pakistan continue attending SCO meetings and institutional mechanisms, allowing officials to discuss regional and organisational matters despite bilateral tensions.
Bilateral and Security Concerns
Participation in SCO forums does not represent a restart of substantive India-Pakistan bilateral talks, which have been absent for roughly a decade.
SCO security agenda
Multilateral Engagement
The SCO’s broader agenda includes regional security, counterterrorism, economic cooperation, connectivity and people-to-people ties.
Bilateral and Security Concerns
India has urged countries to address those responsible for and supporting cross-border terrorism, and has viewed the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure with skepticism amid accusations against Pakistan.
Pakistan’s 2027 summit
Multilateral Engagement
Pakistan is preparing a summit focused on connectivity, innovation, economic cooperation and shared prosperity, with invitations expected for all member-state leaders.
Bilateral and Security Concerns
The summit’s success will depend on participation and coordination between countries whose bilateral relations remain strained, including India and Pakistan.
- Indian delegation leader
- Alok Dimri, Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary and India’s SCO national coordinator
- Meeting dates
- September 28–30
- Pakistan’s chairmanship
- Pakistan assumed the rotating chairmanship from Kyrgyzstan on September 1
- Planned summit
- SCO Council of Heads of State summit in Islamabad in August 2027
- Chairmanship theme
- “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity”
- India-Pakistan relations
- The countries have not held substantive bilateral talks in roughly a decade
- SCO membership
- India and Pakistan became full members of the SCO in 2017
