2026 Bishkek SCO summit
26th heads of state summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
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The 2026 Bishkek SCO summit was the 26th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), held from 31 August to 1 September 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It was the fourth time that Kyrgyzstan hosted the meeting, and it closed Kyrgyzstan's 2025–2026 rotating chairmanship, marking the 25th anniversary of the organisation's founding.[1][2] The summit was chaired by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, under the theme "25 Years of the SCO: Together for Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity", and was expected to adopt the Bishkek Declaration and hand the rotating chairmanship to Pakistan.[2]
Kyrgyzstan
China
India
Belarus
Iran
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Pakistan
Russia
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan| 2026 Bishkek SCO summit 26th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State | |
|---|---|
| |
| Host country | Kyrgyzstan |
| Date | 31 August – 1 September 2026 |
| Cities | Bishkek |
| Participants | China
Uzbekistan |
| Chair | Sadyr Japarov |
| Follows | 2025 Tianjin SCO summit |
| Precedes | 2027 SCO summit |
Background
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. By 2026 it had ten member states — India and Pakistan joined in 2017, Iran in 2023, and Belarus in 2024 — with Afghanistan and Mongolia as observer states and fifteen dialogue partners.[3][2] Kyrgyzstan assumed the rotating chairmanship after the 2025 Tianjin SCO summit, adopting the theme "25 Years of the SCO: Together for Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity".[4] The Bishkek summit coincided with the 25th anniversary of the organisation and with the opening in Kyrgyzstan of the sixth World Nomad Games on 31 August.[5]
Preparations
Preparatory meetings during Kyrgyzstan's chairmanship included a gathering of the secretaries of the security councils of SCO member states in Bishkek in May 2026,[6] an energy ministers' meeting in Bishkek in June at which ministers discussed energy security and consultations on a proposed SCO Energy Consortium,[3] and a foreign ministers' meeting in Cholpon-Ata in July that approved draft documents for the summit, including the draft Bishkek Declaration.[3][2] In late July, an SCO Media and Analytical Centers Summit (also reported as a Media and Think Tank Summit) was held at the Ala-Archa State Residence outside Bishkek, at which delegates adopted a "Bishkek Consensus" on cooperation among the bloc's media outlets and research institutions.[7][8]
Participants
The summit was chaired by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov as host. The ten member states were represented by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, alongside Japarov.[5][9] Beijing confirmed Xi's participation in late August.[10] Modi travelled to Bishkek after a stop in Tashkent,[2] and Sharif arrived on 31 August, remaining for a bilateral visit to Kyrgyzstan on 2 September.[10]
In an expanded "SCO Plus" format, leaders from partner countries also attended, including Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Thongloun Sisoulith, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, Vietnamese Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân and Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Issa. The Kyrgyz presidential press service said leaders from 17 countries would attend.[11][9] United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the heads of several international bodies — including SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev, CIS Secretary-General Sergey Lebedev, CSTO Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov, Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman Bakytzhan Sagintayev and CICA Secretary-General Kairat Sarybay — also attended.[11]
Agenda
According to the Kyrgyz presidential press service, the agenda covered current international and regional issues and priorities for the SCO's further development, together with cooperation in political, trade, economic, transport and logistics, digital, environmental, cultural and humanitarian spheres.[11] Kyrgyz proposals for the summit included an SCO development bank, new transport corridors and an international centre for combating organised crime.[2] The summit, the first since a reported thaw in China–India relations following their 2020 border clashes, drew attention to the interactions of Xi, Modi and Putin; Iranian media reported that Pezeshkian was scheduled to meet Putin on the sidelines.[12]
Expected outcomes
The summit was expected to adopt the Bishkek Declaration marking the SCO's 25th anniversary, along with other documents, decisions and thematic statements.[11][9] At its conclusion, Kyrgyzstan was expected to hand the rotating chairmanship to Pakistan, which will host the 2027 summit in Islamabad.[2][12]