Pakistan has assumed the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Heads of State for 2026-27, and will host next year’s summit in Islamabad (Dawn; Aaj News).
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took up the chair at the close of the Bishkek summit on Tuesday.
The theme
Pakistan’s chairmanship will run under the theme “Turning vision into action, connectivity, innovation and shared prosperity” — wording that leans on delivery rather than declaration, and which the government will be measured against when the summit convenes in Islamabad.
What Pakistan says it will prioritise
– information technology and artificial intelligence – energy development – poverty reduction – disaster management – health – culture and sports
What hosting actually involves
Chairing the Council of Heads of State means setting the agenda for a year of ministerial and working-level meetings, and then hosting a summit attended by the leaders of China, Russia, India, Iran, Türkiye and the Central Asian states.
That last point is the one worth watching. An SCO summit in Islamabad implies an invitation to the Indian prime minister, at a moment when the two countries are in open disagreement over the Indus Waters Treaty — Shehbaz used his address on Tuesday to say water “must never be weaponised”. India attended this year’s summit in Bishkek.
There is a precedent worth noting. Pakistan hosted the 23rd SCO Council of Heads of Government in Islamabad on 15-16 October 2024 — a lower-tier meeting than a heads-of-state summit. India attended, but sent External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rather than the prime minister (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Whether Delhi upgrades that level of representation for a heads-of-state summit is the open question.
The summit that just ended
The Bishkek meeting ran from 31 August to 1 September under the chairmanship of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, with the Council of Heads of State and the SCO Plus session both held on Tuesday.
No date has been announced for the Islamabad summit.
[Image: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 1 September 2026. Via Dawn.]
