PM Modi begins four-day Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan visit for SCO summit; what's on agenda
The Prime Minister began a four-day visit to Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, with a State Visit to Tashkent (August 29-30) followed by the 26th SCO Summit in Bishkek (August 31-September 1)
In Tashkent, bilateral talks were held with the Uzbek President on trade, investment, digital connectivity, defence, energy, and education, along with a visit to the Shastri Memorial and the Mahatma Gandhi Centre at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies
This marks the Prime Minister's fourth official visit to Uzbekistan since diplomatic ties were established in 1992
The Bishkek leg brings together ten Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states, with the wider agenda covering the BRICS Summit and UN Security Council diplomacy addressed separately in related coverage
SCO Summit Structure and India's Membership Timeline
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation holds an annual Heads of State Council summit, rotating among member states, as its apex decision-making event; the 2026 edition in Bishkek is the 26th such summit since the SCO's founding in 2001. India's presence at these summits reflects a membership track that moved from Observer to full member over more than a decade.
Key Details
- SCO founded 15 June 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; the Charter was signed in 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003
- India held Observer status from 2005 before becoming a full member on 9 June 2017 at the Astana Summit, alongside Pakistan
- The organisation expanded further with Iran's accession as a full member in July 2023 and Belarus in 2024, bringing total full membership to 10 states
- The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), the SCO's standing security body, was established in 2004 and is headquartered in Tashkent — the same city hosting the bilateral leg of this visit
- The Bishkek Summit's programme includes a welcome dinner, a plenary session with leaders' statements, bilateral meetings on the sidelines, and the opening ceremony of the sixth World Nomad Games
This is the first SCO Summit that the Prime Minister is attending as part of a combined state-visit-plus-summit itinerary structured around Uzbekistan, illustrating the standard SCO practice of pairing a bilateral leg with the multilateral gathering.
India-Uzbekistan Strategic Partnership
India and Uzbekistan established diplomatic relations in March 1992 and elevated ties to a Strategic Partnership in 2011, building a bilateral relationship that now spans trade, connectivity, defence, energy, and education alongside the multilateral SCO engagement.
Key Details
- Bilateral cooperation areas discussed in Tashkent include critical minerals, digital connectivity, defence, healthcare, energy, and education
- Uzbekistan is one of the five Central Asian republics that participated in the first (and so far only) India-Central Asia Summit, held virtually in January 2022
- Uzbekistan has also been invited as a partner country to India's 18th BRICS Summit (New Delhi, September 2026), reflecting overlapping multilateral engagement alongside the bilateral Strategic Partnership
- Cultural outreach — such as visits to Indology and Gandhian study centres in Tashkent — is a recurring feature of high-level India-Uzbekistan exchanges, reflecting the two countries' Persianate and Silk Route historical linkages
The Tashkent leg of the visit is being conducted as a standalone State Visit under the existing Strategic Partnership framework, distinct from and preceding the multilateral SCO Summit obligations in Bishkek.
- Visit dates: August 29-September 1, 2026 (Uzbekistan State Visit, then 26th SCO Summit in Bishkek)
- SCO founded: 2001; India full member since 9 June 2017 (Astana Summit); current membership 10 states
- RATS (SCO's counter-terrorism body): established 2004, headquartered in Tashkent
- India-Uzbekistan diplomatic relations: established 1992; Strategic Partnership declared 2011
- This is the Prime Minister's fourth official visit to Uzbekistan
- World Nomad Games (Kyrgyzstan, sidelines of the visit): sixth edition