Flashpoints | Diplomacy | South Asia

India’s High-Stakes Gamble in the SCO 

In an era of diminishing multilateralism, can the SCO actually bring results?

A group photo of national leaders during the SCO Summit 2025 in Tianjin, China, Sep. 1, 2025.

On July 19, India’s Minister for Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, speaking in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, at the meeting of culture ministers from the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), framed culture as a “powerful force for dialogue, trust and sustainable development.” He reaffirmed India’s commitment to preserving the “shared civilizational heritage” and strengthening cooperation among the members of the group. The meeting ended with a gala concert and a guided tour of the Rukh-Ordo cultural complex, which serves as an exhibition venue to showcase Kyrgyzstan’s cultural heritage, history, and traditions. There was also a proposal for an SCO international theater festival.

Earlier, in April, the defense ministers of the SCO countries met in Bishkek. Next will be the foreign ministers meeting in Cholpon-Ata on July 23-24. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh will represent India at the meeting, which will prepare the ground for the SCO Leadership Summit, scheduled to be held in Bishkek from August 31 to September 1. The foreign ministers will review progress in key areas of SCO cooperation and exchange views on matters of regional and international significance. On September 1, Kyrgyzstan will pass the chairmanship of the organization to Pakistan. 

The SCO just marked its 25th anniversary. It was originally founded in June 2001 when the “Shanghai Five” – China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan – were joined by Uzbekistan and the name was changed to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The SCO was meant to catalyze collaborative efforts on regional, geopolitical, and geostrategic challenges. It has over the years added four more member states – India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus – bringing the total to 10. As a result, the organization is now the largest pan-Eurasian regional grouping. Not surprisingly, meetings of the SCO, especially those of the heads of states, continue to attract immense attention in the region and beyond. 

Nevertheless, beyond media headlines, the SCO’s actual performance and delivery potential on its 10 identified “goals and tasks” has remained suboptimal. Saddled with internal contradictions, divergent world views, and competing geoeconomic and security interests, the SCO has remained mostly a talk shop providing photo opportunities, diplomatic signaling, and at times hedging. 

On July 20, I spoke with Kirti Vardhan Singh, the minister who will represent India at the upcoming foreign ministers meeting, to probe where SCO figures in India’s strategic calculus. “India considers SCO as a structured multilateral forum as advantageous to India, in enhancing outreach with Central Asian nations to expand our presence and visibility in SCO geography at large,” Singh said. 

To that end, he added, “India continues to maintain its focus on areas of common interest and resolutely defends any move against India’s core interests that may emanate from certain SCO geographies.” 

Still, the fact remains that SCO mirrors most of the deficiencies that plague any large multilateral grouping. The lack of unanimity on key goals such as “joint[ly] combating terrorism” and “jointly searching for solutions to the problems that would arise in the 21st century” makes the SCO long on rhetoric but short on delivery. 

In particular, the India-Pakistan differences repeatedly cast a long shadow on the SCO’s workings, as do China-India disagreements concerning the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). During the defense ministers’ meeting in Bishkek, India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh spoke about “fractured world views” of “inward-looking countries,”  but also about how India “demonstrated its firm resolve that terrorism epicenters are no longer immune to justifiable punishment” – indirectly hinting at Pakistan. 

On July 17, India participated in the 12th Meeting of the Heads of Border Services of SCO member states,........

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