Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh on Friday, 24 July called for reformed multilateralism and substantive cooperation among Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states as the only credible path to addressing contemporary global challenges. Singh made the remarks while addressing the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan.

Key Concerns Raised by India

Singh underscored that the rapidly shifting world order has generated a cascade of emergent threats — from active conflicts and food and energy insecurities to erratic supply chains, extreme climate events, and uneven economic recoveries. He argued that these pressures have hit the Global South adversely and disproportionately.

'It is incumbent that the SCO remains resolute in promoting an inclusive, representative, and multipolar international order based on sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law,' Singh said at the meeting.

India's Vision for the SCO

The minister stated that New Delhi's engagement with the SCO is guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's broader vision of security, connectivity, and opportunity — aimed at fostering stability, growth, regional cooperation, and people-to-people ties among member states.

'India remains committed to working constructively with all member states for an SCO that is secure, stable, inclusive, and responsive to the aspirations of our people,' Singh affirmed.

Unequivocal Stand on Terrorism

Singh took a firm line on terrorism, calling for the SCO to dismantle terror networks, safe harbours, radicalisation pipelines, terror-financing webs, and drug trafficking operations. He argued that such action would produce 'qualitative enhancements to regional interdependence, cohesion, and gainful exchanges.'

'The condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, must be unequivocal,' he stressed, adding that the SCO must adopt a principled and consistent approach in combating terrorism and violent extremism. Notably, the reference to cross-border terrorism is widely read as a pointed signal directed at Pakistan, a fellow SCO member.

First SCO Civilizational Dialogue Forum

Singh announced that the inaugural SCO Civilizational Dialogue Forum will be hosted in India later this year. Prime Minister Modi has agreed to deliver the keynote address at the opening session. Singh expressed hope for robust participation from all SCO member states, describing the forum as an effort to harness millennia of accumulated civilizational wisdom for collective and future generations.

What This Signals

India's participation at the ministerial level — rather than at the level of External Affairs Minister — reflects the diplomatic complexities within the SCO, which includes both China and Pakistan. New Delhi's dual emphasis on multilateral reform and uncompromising counter-terrorism language signals a strategic effort to shape the bloc's agenda on its own terms. The upcoming Civilizational Dialogue Forum also positions India as a thought leader within the grouping ahead of a likely SCO Summit later in the year.