Islamabad to host first SCO coordinators' meeting of Pakistan's chairmanship as 2027 summit plans take shape

Pakistan will host the first meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s national coordinators under its chairmanship in Islamabad from September 28 to 30, the opening step in a year of diplomacy that will end with the country hosting the bloc’s heads of state in August 2027.

The Foreign Office said on Sunday that the SCO Council of National Coordinators would meet under Pakistan’s chairmanship of the Council of Heads of State for 2026-27. Pakistan’s national coordinator for the SCO will chair the talks, which will bring together counterparts from all member states and representatives of the SCO Secretariat.

What the coordinators will discuss

The national coordinators are the officials who turn the decisions of leaders into a working calendar. According to the Foreign Office, this week’s meeting will cover a broad agenda: the programme of activities planned for Pakistan’s chairmanship, preparations for upcoming SCO meetings and events, and other issues before the organisation.

The ministry described the meeting as “an important initial engagement” that will feed into the high-level meetings planned over the coming year, culminating in the summit of heads of state in Islamabad.

‘Turning Vision into Action’

Pakistan has chosen the theme “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity” for its term. The Foreign Office said the chairmanship would focus on:

• Greater regional connectivity
• Innovation and new technology
• Stronger economic cooperation among member states
• Closer people-to-people contacts

The aim, it said, is to turn the shared vision of the member states into “practical and mutually beneficial initiatives”. Pakistan has pledged to work closely with every member state and with the SCO Secretariat to advance those priorities.

Pakistan took over the chairmanship at the bloc’s annual summit in Kyrgyzstan this month. Speaking there, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif proposed a plan that would prioritise information technology and artificial intelligence, energy development, poverty reduction, disaster management, health, culture and sport, and urged members to turn the SCO’s promises into progress.

Islamabad gets ready for 2027

Preparations for the summit are already visible in the capital. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has invited bids to upgrade the Jinnah Convention Centre and to build a new block for the summit.

Accommodation is another priority. In August, the CDA set out to ensure that 4,000 top-class hotel rooms would be available in Islamabad for the event. Officials said that although the city’s hotels had more than 4,000 rooms, around 1,000 did not meet international standards, so the authority has encouraged the hotel industry to build new rooms, finish projects under construction early and begin new hotels.

A growing role in the SCO

The chairmanship adds to a series of SCO responsibilities Pakistan has taken on. In July, Islamabad hosted the 12th meeting of the heads of border services of SCO member states. Pakistan has also chaired the organisation’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) since last September, a role that places it at the centre of the bloc’s counter-terrorism cooperation.

The SCO brings together some of the world’s most important economies and populations, including China and Russia, and is one of the main platforms for security and economic dialogue across Eurasia. For Pakistan, which sits at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia and the Gulf, the organisation offers a natural stage for its long-standing argument that regional trade routes and connectivity can bring stability as well as growth.

That message fits a wider pattern in Pakistan’s diplomacy this month. At the UN General Assembly, the prime minister called for vital sea lanes to stay open and for disputes to be settled through dialogue, while the country’s diplomats have pressed for a stronger role for multilateral institutions, a case this newspaper made in its editorial on the UN.

Why it matters

Chairing the SCO gives Pakistan the chance to set the agenda of one of the largest regional organisations in the world for a full year. A successful term, and a well-run summit in Islamabad in 2027, would strengthen the country’s standing as a convener in its region, bring senior leaders and investors to the capital, and give practical weight to its push for connectivity and economic cooperation. This week’s meeting of coordinators is where that work formally begins.

This article draws on reporting published by Dawn.