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Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states are set to gather in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, for the Heads of State Council summit on September 1, marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Eurasia's largest intergovernmental organisation. This year's summit carries the slogan "25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity." As of August 28, several heads of state and government have already begun departing for, or are due to arrive shortly in, Bishkek, with summit-related diplomatic activity expected to continue into early September.

SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev said in earlier anniversary remarks that the organisation's 25th anniversary is a milestone reflecting decades of dedicated work and member states' shared, future-oriented vision, noting that the SCO has grown from the original "Shanghai Five" mechanism into the world's largest trans-regional international organisation by territory and population. He stressed that member states remain committed to the guiding principles built around the "Shanghai Spirit," finding consensus and moving forward on the basis of mutual trust and mutual benefit, and outlined priorities including strengthening regional stability, deepening economic cooperation, improving transport connectivity, accelerating digital transformation and expanding cultural exchanges. In June, the SCO held 25th-anniversary celebrations in Beijing, where Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered remarks at a reception affirming the achievements of 25 years of cooperation.

According to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the SCO summit from August 30 to September 3 and pay state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Egypt at the invitation of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Xi in Bishkek on August 31, during which the two are expected to discuss bilateral cooperation and major international issues. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's itinerary shows he will first visit Uzbekistan on August 29-30 before travelling to Bishkek from August 31 to September 1 for the summit; Modi and Putin are also expected to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines.

Besides the Chinese, Russian and Indian leaders, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected to attend, as Tehran faces mounting US economic sanctions pressure. Reports indicate that as many as 21 heads of state and government could arrive in Bishkek for the occasion, representing the SCO's ten full member states — China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, and the four Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — along with observer states Afghanistan and Mongolia and delegations from numerous dialogue partners.

Ahead of the formal summit, a series of preparatory meetings has already taken place within the SCO framework. On July 24, a Council of Foreign Ministers meeting was held in Kyrgyzstan to help shape the summit's agenda and negotiate accompanying documents. On August 6, the Council of National Coordinators, which oversees the summit's organisational details, held its own regular meeting. In addition, an SCO Media and Think Tank Summit focused on press and academic exchange has already opened in Kyrgyzstan as part of the wider 25th-anniversary programme. Together, these meetings have laid the groundwork for the September 1 Heads of State Council summit and reflect the SCO's multi-layered working mechanisms spanning security, diplomacy and public diplomacy.

The SCO's history traces back to the "Shanghai Five" mechanism established in 1996. The 2000 Dushanbe Declaration called for transforming that mechanism into a multilateral regional cooperation organisation, and Uzbekistan joined that same year. On June 15, 2001, leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formally announced the founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Shanghai. In June 2002, member states signed the SCO Charter at the St Petersburg summit; the charter took effect on September 19, 2003, establishing the organisation's mandate to cooperate on security, economic and cultural affairs and to jointly combat the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024, expanding the SCO into a regional bloc covering some of the largest shares of world population and territory.

The Bishkek summit is expected to adopt a Bishkek Declaration commemorating the 25th anniversary, along with additional documents addressing the organisation's development and regional and international issues. Reports say the summit will advance security cooperation mechanisms including a proposed SCO Anti-Drug Center; SCO anti-narcotics officials reportedly agreed on a working draft in May for submission to the summit. The summit may also decide to replace the separate "observer state" and "dialogue partner" categories with a unified "SCO partner" status. The gathering also marks the end of Kyrgyzstan's rotating chairmanship, with the role passing to Pakistan, which will host the 2027 SCO summit.

Economic and trade cooperation is also a major focus of this year's summit. In May, finance ministers and central bank governors from SCO member states met in Bishkek and agreed to further expand the use of national currencies in bilateral trade settlements, aiming to reduce exchange-rate risk and decrease reliance on external financial systems. Participants also discussed plans for an SCO Development Bank; interested member states reached political consensus on establishing the bank at the 2025 Tianjin summit, though the institution has not yet begun formal operations. Iran has separately proposed setting up a financial institution that would use member states' national currencies and an independent settlement system, allowing countries to contribute capital in their own currencies. Transport infrastructure connectivity and expanding trade volumes among member states are also expected to be on the summit's agenda.

Analysts say tensions in the Middle East, the conflict in Ukraine and instability in Afghanistan are expected to feature prominently in leaders' sideline discussions during the summit. Some Western commentary has suggested that shifting geopolitical dynamics have altered how much certain member states rely on, or expect from, the SCO framework. Still, most observers note that as Eurasia's largest comprehensive regional cooperation platform to date, the SCO's coordinating role in energy, counter-terrorism, connectivity and trade is unlikely to be diminished by individual disagreements.

Over 25 years, the SCO has grown from six founding members into a sprawling cooperation network encompassing ten full member states, two observer states and more than a dozen dialogue partners. The Bishkek summit is being widely viewed not only as a review of a quarter-century of cooperation, but also as an important marker for whether the SCO can continue building consensus and expanding cooperation amid a changing geopolitical environment.