India At SCO Meet In Islamabad: What To Expect From The Meeting

Pakistan is set to host a three-day meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation national coordinators in Islamabad from September 28 to 30. Preparations are under way for the SCO Council of Heads of State summit planned for August 2027.

This is Pakistan’s first big step in its 2026-27 term at the helm of the SCO Council of Heads of State. Islamabad took over the chair from Kyrgyzstan on September 1, and Joint Secretary Alok Dimri is expected to lead the Indian delegation.

The forum will bring together national coordinators from member states and representatives of the SCO Secretariat. It is expected to help set the calendar for upcoming high-level meetings and activities under Pakistan’s chairmanship. It will also start coordination for the 2027 summit that Islamabad will host.

Agenda And Theme

PTI reported that Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on X on Sunday that the meeting will be led by its National Coordinator. The national coordinators will examine a “wide range of issues relating to SCO cooperation and coordination”, including the “programme of activities under Pakistan’s Chairmanship”, preparations for upcoming SCO meetings and events and other items on the organisation’s agenda.

The chairmanship theme is “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity”. The Foreign Office reported that Pakistan will seek to advance the SCO’s objectives through that agenda during its term.

The Foreign Office told PTI, “In this regard, Pakistan’s Chairmanship would focus on promoting greater connectivity, fostering innovation, enhancing economic cooperation, and strengthening people-to-people contacts,”. It also told PTI, “Pakistan would work closely with all Member States and the SCO Secretariat to advance these priorities and further strengthen cooperation within the SCO.”

India's Participation Details

India is taking part despite strained ties. Dimri is expected to lead the Indian side at the Islamabad meeting from September 28 to 30.

The meeting comes as India and Pakistan continue to use SCO mechanisms even though substantive bilateral engagement remains absent. Both sides have kept their differences separate from the organisation’s multilateral processes, in line with the SCO Charter’s expectation that bilateral disputes should not enter the forum’s proceedings.

India is expected to keep its focus on counterterrorism within the SCO framework. Pakistan currently chairs the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. India has repeatedly pushed for collective action against terrorism, extremism and separatism. It has also backed SCO connectivity projects while maintaining that such initiatives must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states.

India has kept up SCO travel to Pakistan. In October 2024, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar went to Islamabad for the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting, the first visit by an Indian external affairs minister to Pakistan in nearly nine years. An Indian delegation also went to Islamabad in July 2026 for the 12th SCO meeting of heads of border services on regional border security cooperation, while Indian military and bureaucratic officials joined SCO-RATS exercises and expert-level meetings hosted by Pakistan.

Path To Summit

The meeting is intended to set the road map. The coordinators are expected to finalise the schedule for ministerial meetings, working groups and other activities under Pakistan’s chairmanship.

The discussions will build towards the SCO Council of Heads of State summit that Pakistan is due to host in August 2027. Islamabad is expected to send invitations to leaders of all SCO member states, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, though it remains unclear whether Modi will travel to Pakistan for the summit.

The meeting also serves as an early coordination forum as Pakistan starts its programme as chair of the Council of Heads of State. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif travelled to Bishkek for a three-day official visit to attend the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting and the SCO Plus Summit, where Pakistan assumed the organisation’s chairmanship for 2026-27.

Pakistan will lead the SCO’s top-level deliberations during this period. The Islamabad coordinators’ meeting is the first major step in that process.

SCO Background Context

The SCO was established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It was founded on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China as a permanent Eurasian political, economic and security alliance.

India and Pakistan became full members in 2017. Iran and Belarus joined later. The grouping now has 10 permanent member states.

The SCO focuses on regional security, economic cooperation, connectivity and efforts against terrorism, separatism and extremism. It has grown into the world’s largest regional organisation by geographic scope and population, covering roughly 60% of Eurasia and more than 40% of the global population.

For India, the forum remains a platform to engage with China, Russia, Pakistan and other Eurasian countries even when bilateral issues persist. New Delhi has maintained that participation in the SCO does not amount to a broader revival of bilateral dialogue with Islamabad, and it has continued to link any wider improvement in ties to action against cross-border terrorism and UN-proscribed terrorist organisations.