Pakistan opens SCO national coordinators meeting in Islamabad under 2026-27 chairmanship

Pakistan will host the first meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of National Coordinators in Islamabad from September 28 to 30, the Foreign Office said on Sunday, marking the first major engagement under Pakistan’s 2026-27 chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State.

The three-day meeting will be chaired by Pakistan’s SCO national coordinator and attended by counterparts from member states along with representatives of the SCO Secretariat. The coordinators will discuss the programme of activities under Pakistan’s chairmanship, preparations for upcoming SCO meetings and events, and other organisational matters.

Pakistan is pursuing the chairmanship under the theme “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity”, with a stated focus on regional connectivity, innovation, economic cooperation and people-to-people contacts. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has proposed prioritising IT and artificial intelligence, energy, poverty reduction, disaster management, health, culture and sports during the chairmanship.

Pakistan assumed the rotating SCO chairmanship at an annual summit held in Kyrgyzstan in September and will host the next SCO Council of Heads of State summit in Islamabad in August 2027. The Capital Development Authority has invited bids to upgrade the Jinnah Convention Centre and is working to secure 4,000 top-class hotel rooms for the summit. Islamabad also currently chairs the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, a role it assumed last September.