As leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) gathered in Bishkek from August 31 to September 1, 2026, they did so at a defining moment in international politics.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary under the theme ‘Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity’, the summit offered an opportunity for the world’s largest regional organisation to move beyond mere declarations to visible outcomes.
The SCO today is an organisation of unprecedented scale. With ten permanent members – China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus – the SCO is home to over 3.4 billion people, nearly 43 per cent of the global population, and almost one-quarter of the world’s landmass. That gives the SCO a huge potential to become a pivot for a viable and balanced international order.
Yet potential alone is insufficient. The organisation’s biggest challenge is turning its size into strategic coherence and delivering predictable outcomes. The foremost obstacle remains political. Persistent bilateral tensions between India and China, as well as between India and Pakistan, continue to undermine cooperation mechanisms and weaken consensus within the organisation. The organisation should institutionalise preventive diplomacy through an SCO Mediation and Conflict Resolution Council comprising respected diplomats and strategic experts from neutral member states.
The SCO’s credibility as a security organisation will increasingly depend on its ability to address instability emanating from Afghanistan. Terrorism, violent extremism, narcotics trafficking and organised crime continue to threaten regional security and undermine economic connectivity across Central and South Asia. Existing security cooperation under the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) may, therefore, be expanded into a comprehensive regional security framework.
Equally significant are the economic challenges confronting the organisation. Despite growing intra-SCO trade and increasing connectivity, economic integration remains constrained by the absence of robust multilateral financial institutions. Most regional infrastructure continues to depend on bilateral financing arrangements, particularly under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), creating perceptions of asymmetrical dependence among smaller members. This constrains collective bargaining power, limits strategic autonomy and complicates balanced regional integration.
The proposed SCO Development Bank, therefore, represents one of the most important institutional reforms in the organisation’s history. It should be operationalised without delay, with transparent governance structures, equitable voting rights and diversified capital contributions from all members. Beyond financing infrastructure, the bank should prioritise green energy, digital infrastructure and climate resilience.
Connectivity presents another area where the SCO possesses huge potential. Competing initiatives such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Pakistan’s China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Russia’s Eurasian transport networks and India’s International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) often reflect geopolitical competition rather than regional complementarity. Instead of viewing these projects as rivals, the SCO should establish a Connectivity Coordination Forum to harmonise transport standards, customs procedures and logistics infrastructure.
The digital economy offers another avenue for meaningful cooperation. The proposed SCO Development Strategy 2026–2035 rightly emphasises artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Member states should establish an SCO Digital Innovation Network linking universities, technology firms and research institutions to collaborate on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital payments and quantum technologies.
Climate change has emerged as a strategic issue that transcends political differences. Central Asia faces mounting water scarcity, desertification and environmental degradation, while South Asia confronts increasingly severe floods, heatwaves and glacial melting. Environmental cooperation should therefore become a core pillar of the SCO agenda. Joint investments in renewable energy, regional electricity grids and water management technologies would strengthen environmental sustainability.
The Bishkek Summit’s emphasis on strengthening the role of the United Nations also merits attention. At a time when multilateral institutions face unprecedented strain, the SCO should position itself not as an alternative to the existing international system but as a complementary regional platform that supports international law, sovereign equality and peaceful dispute resolution.
The organisation’s bigger challenge, perhaps, is institutional rather than geopolitical. The SCO has often been criticised for presenting ambitious declarations without equally ambitious implementation plans.
As the organisation enters its second quarter-century, challenges in the international environment are becoming more complex. These challenges are increasingly characterised by strategic competition, fragmented globalisation, technological rivalry and evolving security threats, and cannot be managed effectively through unilateral action alone. They require flexible regional institutions capable of fostering dialogue and generating practical solutions.
The SCO possesses the demographic strength, economic potential, strategic geography and political diversity to become an institution of great worth. But its future relevance will depend not on the number of its members or the magnitude of its declarations, but on its willingness to translate political intent into institutional actions.
If the Bishkek Summit succeeds in advancing concrete mechanisms for conflict management, economic integration, digital cooperation, environmental sustainability and institutional reform, the SCO can evolve into one of the defining pillars of 21st century Eurasian governance.
The writer is the director of the China-Pakistan Study Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad.
