Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh will travel to Kyrgyzstan on a two-day visit from 23 July 2026 to represent India at the Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), held in the lakeside city of Cholpon-Ata. The meeting serves as the final preparatory round before the SCO Leadership Summit in Bishkek on 31 August – 1 September 2026.

What the CFM Meeting Will Cover

Foreign ministers of SCO member states are expected to review progress across key areas of cooperation and exchange views on matters of regional and international significance. According to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the ministers are tasked with finalising documents and decisions for formal adoption by heads of state at the Bishkek Summit. The agenda covers security, economic cooperation, and multilateral coordination among the bloc's 10 member states.

Bilateral Meetings on the Sidelines

Kirti Vardhan Singh is expected to hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from SCO member states on the sidelines of the CFM. These engagements typically serve as a platform for India to advance bilateral ties and signal diplomatic positions ahead of the leadership-level summit.

India's Recent SCO Engagements

The CFM visit is part of a sustained Indian diplomatic push within the SCO framework in 2026. On Sunday, Union Minister of Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat represented India at the 23rd Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the SCO Member States in Cholpon-Ata, where a protocol was signed and a list of cultural exchange events for 2026–2027 was approved. In April, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting in Bishkek, stressing the need for a collective and uncompromising stance against terrorism, separatism, and extremism — calling for the dismantling of safe havens and rejecting any political justification for such acts.

Kyrgyzstan's SCO Chairmanship

Kyrgyzstan holds the SCO chairmanship for 2025–2026. President Sadyr Japarov has announced '25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development, and Prosperity' as the theme of its presidency — a framing that underscores the bloc's ambition to project itself as a stabilising force in Eurasia as it enters its third decade.

SCO at a Glance

The SCO was established on 15 June 2001, with founding members China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024, bringing the total membership to 10 states. The organisation also has two observer states — Afghanistan and Mongolia — and 14 dialogue partners, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Nepal, among others.

With the Bishkek Summit now weeks away, the Cholpon-Ata CFM is expected to set the diplomatic tone for India's engagement with the bloc's expanding membership.