The 25th Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) was held in Tianjin, China, from 31 August to 1 September 2025, under the chairmanship of China. The summit conducted discussions on economic cooperation, counter-terrorism, regional security, global governance, and adoption of the Tianjin Declaration. The summit was attended by leaders of 10 member states. During the summit, Laos was accepted as a new partner country.
The SCO chairmanship for the 26th SCO summit has been passed to Kyrgyzstan. The SCO's supreme decision-making body is the Council of Heads of State, which meets annually on a rotational basis. The SCO uses Russian alphabetical order to rotate chairmanship of its main bodies, including the Council of Heads of State. India hosted the 23rd Summit in July 2023, while the 24th Summit was held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 3–4 July 2024.
Let us understand what the SCO is, its aims and objectives, along with the importance of the SCO for India.
What is the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO)?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a multilateral organisation established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China, by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. (known as the Shanghai-5).
The headquarters of the SCO are in Beijing, China. The official working language of the SCO Secretariat is Russian and Chinese.
At the July 2005 Astana Summit, India, Pakistan, and Iran were granted Observer status. In July 2015, in Ufa, Russia, the SCO admitted India and Pakistan as full members. Later, at the summit in Astana, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full members in June 2017. While SCO further included Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.
SCO currently comprises 10 member states: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The observer states and dialogue partners were merged into a new category, i.e., SCO partner countries.
With the inclusion of Laos as a partner country, SCO now includes 27 countries (10 member states, and 17 dialogue partners). The two observer states are Afghanistan and Mongolia.
What are the aims and objectives of SCO?
The main aims and objectives of the SCO are:
- strengthen mutual trust, friendship and good-neighbourliness;
- promote multilateral interaction to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region;
- jointly address new challenges and threats;
- encourage effective and mutually beneficial cooperation in various spheres;
- promote economic growth and social and cultural development.
The SCO has two permanent bodies: the Secretariatand the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).
Why is the SCO summit important to India?
The SCO offers a multilateral platform for India to enhance its presence and secure its interests in Eurasia. The SCO is significant for India to:
- Enhance regional security and counter terrorism: Through the RATS, India collaborates to tackle terrorism, separatism and extremism.
- Strengthen strategic reach in Central Asia: With SCO, India gets a platform to strengthen ties with Central Asian nations and build its soft power.
- Energy Security: SCO aids in boosting India's energy security by providing access to mineral and energy rich nations of the Central Asia.
- Connectivity with Central Asia: SCO offers India to boost connectivity with Eurasia through initiatives like the Chabhar Port and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
- Geopolitical Balancing and Multilateral Diplomacy: As a member of SCO, India finds a multilateral platform to strengthen its ties and discuss bilateral ties with Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, and other Central Asian states.
- Economic cooperation: The SCO aids India in fostering trade, digital technology, investment, and infrastructure, promoting use of local currencies.
Did you know? Varanasi has been nominated as the first ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital at the SCO Summit in Samarkand, 2022. The Ministry of External Affairs noted that the nomination of Varanasi as the first ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital will boost tourism and cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member countries.
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