Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Kyrgyzstan on August 30 to attend the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek and to hold bilateral talks with fellow leaders on the sidelines. He was greeted at the airport by Kasymaliev Adylbek Aleshovich, chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, and welcomed with a traditional Kyrgyz dance performance.
Modi is visiting at the invitation of President Sadyr Zhaparov. The summit runs August 31–September 1 and marks 25 years since the SCO’s founding in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.
On the trip, Modi said he aims to promote India’s regional vision centered on security, connectivity and opportunities, and to work with SCO partners toward a region free of terrorism, separatism and extremism. He is expected to hold several bilateral meetings in Bishkek, including with President Zhaparov and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi will also attend the opening ceremony of the 6th World Nomad Games, underscoring the cultural as well as strategic aspects of the visit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also arrived in Bishkek on August 30 to take part in the summit. After landing, Xi said he looked forward to reviewing the SCO’s 25-year development, discussing future cooperation and promoting the organisation’s continued advancement. He is scheduled to meet with a number of SCO leaders on the sidelines.
Xi’s trip to Kyrgyzstan precedes a busy diplomatic month for China’s leader: he is widely expected to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12–13 and later travel to the United States for a summit meeting with President Donald Trump.
Ahead of these gatherings, India and China continued diplomatic engagement on their longstanding boundary dispute. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the 25th meeting of the Special Representatives mechanism on the India-China boundary question in Beijing. The talks produced an eight-point consensus and a commitment to advance discussions toward an “Early and Substantial Harvest” on boundary delimitation and border management. The Special Representatives mechanism remains the primary forum for addressing the 3,488-kilometre boundary and recurring tensions between the two countries.
With multiple leaders converging in Bishkek, the SCO summit and its sidelines will be a focal point for regional strategy, bilateral diplomacy and efforts to deepen economic and security ties across Central and South Asia. Participants are expected to use the platform both to commemorate the organisation’s quarter-century milestone and to chart cooperative initiatives for the next phase of SCO engagement.