Bishkek summit puts regional security and cooperation on the SCO agenda

Kyrgyzstan has concluded its chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with a leaders’ summit in Bishkek that approved 28 documents and placed security, energy and economic links at the centre of a broad regional agenda.

President Sadyr Japarov chaired the September 1 meeting, attended by leaders or heads of government from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as India, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Belarus. The gathering marked the organisation’s 25th anniversary. Turkmenistan is not an SCO member.

The documents included the Bishkek Declaration, amendments to the SCO charter and a statement on assistance to countries affected by emergencies. The leaders also approved provisions for a centre to address security threats and an anti-drug centre, according to the SCO secretariat. Those decisions set institutional tasks; the secretariat’s account does not establish that the new mechanisms are already operating.

For the Central Asian hosts, the value of the meeting lies partly in keeping practical regional issues on the table in a forum whose membership extends well beyond the five republics. The agenda ranged from trade and investment to energy, technology, ecology and tourism. The parallel SCO Plus meeting widened the discussion to partners and international organisations.

Kyrgyzstan handed the chairmanship for 2026–27 to Pakistan. The next measure of the Bishkek meeting will be whether its declarations produce concrete cooperation on cross-border risks and commerce. For now, the clearest outcome is a package of agreed texts and a transfer of the chair, rather than a completed new development programme.