Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has arrived in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to represent India at the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), being held on 19-20 October 2026.

Upon his arrival, Singh was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the airport. He was received by Tajikistan’s Defence Minister Emomali Sobirzoda and Sherali Jonon, Head of the Asia-Pacific Division at the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ahead of the meeting, Singh announced on X that he was departing New Delhi for Dushanbe and looked forward to representing India at the SCO Heads of Government gathering in Tajikistan.

The two-day meeting is expected to focus on enhancing cooperation among SCO member states in a range of sectors, including trade, connectivity, investment, innovation, culture and broader economic engagement.

Participants will also review progress made under existing SCO initiatives and examine matters related to the organisation’s financial and institutional functioning, reflecting the CHG mechanism’s central role in advancing practical economic cooperation within the bloc.

India is expected to highlight its active participation across various SCO platforms, particularly through initiatives involving Start-Ups, digital public infrastructure, innovation and cultural exchanges.

New Delhi views the forum as an important opportunity to promote practical and mutually beneficial cooperation while strengthening its engagement with Central Asian partners and other SCO member states.

The meeting follows the previous SCO Council of Heads of Government session held in Moscow on 18 November 2025, during which External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India.

The Dushanbe gathering comes at a time when the SCO is placing increasing emphasis on regional economic integration, transport connectivity, digital transformation and investment cooperation across Eurasia.

Pakistan, which is scheduled to host the SCO Summit in 2027, has meanwhile indicated that it will fulfil its responsibility as host by inviting all member states, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The SCO has evolved into one of the world’s largest regional organisations, spanning nearly 36 million square kilometres across Eurasia.

Its ten member states are Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Together, these countries are home to more than 3.4 billion people and account for roughly a quarter of global GDP as well as more than 15 per cent of world trade.

The organisation seeks to promote long-term good neighbourly relations, regional stability and cooperation among member states in accordance with international law.

In addition to its ten members, the SCO includes two observer states, Afghanistan and Mongolia.

The organisation also maintains 15 dialogue partners: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates.

India’s participation in the Dushanbe meeting underscores its continuing commitment to multilateral engagement within the SCO framework and its broader efforts to deepen economic, technological and people-to-people cooperation across the Eurasian region.

ANI