Rajnath Singh flies to Dushanbe for 25th SCO Heads of Govt meet
Synopsis
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has flown to Dushanbe to lead India's delegation at the 25th SCO Council of Heads of Government summit — a two-day gathering covering trade, connectivity, and institutional reform. With bilateral flashpoints on India's borders and a packed sidelines agenda, what Singh says — and who he meets — could matter as much as the formal communiqué.
Key Takeaways
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh departed for Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 19 October 2026 for the 25th SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting.
The two-day summit runs 19–20 October 2026 and covers culture, connectivity, economy, innovation, investment, and people-to-people ties.
India's priorities include start-ups and innovation, digital public infrastructure, trade facilitation , and supply-chain diversification in sectors like critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and green hydrogen.
The previous CHG meeting was held in Moscow on 18 November 2025 , where EAM S.
Jaishankar represented India.
The SCO has 10 member states , 2 observer states , and 15 dialogue partners , spanning much of Eurasia.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday, 19 October 2026, departed from New Delhi for Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to represent India at the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The two-day summit, running 19–20 October, is among the SCO's most consequential annual gatherings, covering economic, institutional, and connectivity agendas.
Singh's Agenda in Dushanbe
Confirming his departure on X (formerly Twitter), Rajnath Singh said he was 'looking forward to representing India at the SCO Heads of Government (HoG) meeting in Tajikistan on 19-20 October 2026.' He outlined that discussions would focus on 'strengthening cooperation in culture, connectivity, economy, innovation, investment and people-to-people ties, besides reviewing progress in financial and institutional functioning.'
According to a Ministry of Defence statement, the meeting is also expected to review the progress of ongoing cooperation initiatives and consider decisions relating to the organisation's financial and institutional functioning. India, the ministry noted, 'remains actively engaged in various SCO mechanisms and continues to contribute to regional cooperation through initiatives in areas such as start-ups and innovation, digital public infrastructure, and people-to-people exchanges.'
India's SCO Priorities
New Delhi's engagement at the CHG meeting builds on positions staked out earlier this year. In September 2026, India highlighted three pillars — Security, Connectivity, and Opportunity — at the 25th meeting of SCO Ministers responsible for Foreign Economic and Trade Activities, also held in Dushanbe. These priorities, rooted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision articulated at the SCO Summit in Bishkek, underscore India's focus on strengthening supply-chain resilience, developing trusted connectivity corridors, and expanding market access for businesses across member states.
India has also pushed for trade facilitation measures including simplified customs procedures, paperless trade, electronic document exchange, and stronger multimodal connectivity. It has called on member states to diversify supply chains in strategic sectors such as agriculture, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and electronics, while flagging the potential for deeper cooperation in energy security, renewable energy, and green hydrogen.
Last CHG Meeting and India's Representation Pattern
The previous CHG meeting was held in Moscow, Russia, on 18 November 2025, where External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India. This time, the decision to send the Defence Minister signals the cross-sectoral breadth of India's SCO engagement, which spans trade, security, and innovation in addition to diplomacy.
About the SCO
The SCO currently comprises 10 member states — India, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It has two observer states — Afghanistan and Mongolia — and 15 dialogue partners including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, Laos, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. With a combined footprint spanning much of Eurasia, the bloc's CHG meetings carry significant weight on regional economic and security architecture.
What to Watch
Any bilateral engagements on the sidelines — particularly with Chinese or Pakistani counterparts — will be closely watched given ongoing sensitivities on India's borders and its diplomatic posture in the region. Outcomes from the financial and institutional review could also shape the SCO's operational agenda heading into 2027.
Point of View
Encompassing security dimensions that New Delhi rarely decouples from regional connectivity discussions. With China and Pakistan in the same room, every SCO gathering is partly a managed adversarial exercise. The three-pillar framework of Security, Connectivity, and Opportunity is a clean articulation of India's interests, but the gap between framework and outcome has been wide at past SCO forums. Whether Singh secures any concrete bilaterals on the sidelines will determine whether this visit moves the needle or remains a box-ticking exercise in Eurasian multilateralism.
NationPress
19 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Rajnath Singh attending the SCO meeting instead of the External Affairs Minister?
The Ministry of Defence has not explicitly explained the choice, but Rajnath Singh's participation signals that India views the SCO's agenda — which spans security, trade, and connectivity — as requiring defence-level representation. At the previous CHG meeting in Moscow in November 2025, EAM S. Jaishankar led India's delegation.
What is the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting?
The SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) is an annual high-level gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's member states, focused on economic cooperation, trade, connectivity, and institutional matters. The 25th edition is being held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 19–20 October 2026.
What are India's key priorities at the 25th SCO CHG meeting?
India is pushing for stronger trade facilitation, digital public infrastructure, simplified customs and paperless trade, and diversified supply chains in sectors such as critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and green hydrogen. New Delhi has framed its agenda around three pillars: Security, Connectivity, and Opportunity.
Which countries are members of the SCO?
The SCO has 10 member states: India, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It also has two observer states — Afghanistan and Mongolia — and 15 dialogue partners including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.
What happened at the previous SCO CHG meeting?
The 24th SCO CHG meeting was held in Moscow, Russia, on 18 November 2025, where External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India. That meeting similarly reviewed economic cooperation and institutional matters among member states.
