SCO Heads of Government Meet in Dushanbe: India Calls for Consistent Action Against Terrorism
The 25th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 19 and 20 October 2026. India was represented by the Defence Minister.
India repeated its long-held position that terrorism, including cross-border terrorism (terror attacks planned and supported from across a country's border), is the biggest obstacle to peace, connectivity and development in the region.
India said there must be "no double standards": countries cannot condemn some terrorist groups while quietly supporting or sheltering others.
India asked SCO members to dismantle the whole "terror ecosystem" through better intelligence sharing, action against terror financing (the money that keeps terror groups running) and denying safe havens (places where terrorists can hide and train).
India also argued that terrorism kills innocent people, scares away investment and trade, and takes away opportunities from young people.
On the sidelines, India held bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Tajikistan and the First Vice-President of Iran.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
The SCO is a regional group of ten countries in Europe and Asia (Eurasia) that cooperate on security, trade, energy and connectivity. It was set up on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China. Its main bodies meet every year at different levels: heads of state (presidents or prime ministers who lead the country) at the top, and heads of government (usually prime ministers) one level below. Fighting what it calls the "three evils" (terrorism, separatism and extremism) has been one of its core goals from the start.
The Dushanbe meeting was the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government, the SCO's economic and budget-focused body. India used this platform, where Pakistan was also present, to argue that the SCO's credibility depends on treating all terrorism the same way, a theme India has pushed at every SCO level.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF): The Global Watchdog on Money Laundering and Terror Financing
The FATF is an international body that sets global standards to stop money laundering (making dirty money look clean) and terror financing (giving money to terrorists). It cannot make laws or punish countries directly. Instead it checks how well each country follows its standards, called the 40 Recommendations, and publicly lists countries that fall short. Being placed on its "grey list" makes banks and investors around the world more careful about dealing with that country.
India's call at the SCO to act against terror financing points to the FATF route. India's argument is that cutting off money to terror groups, and holding states that let such money flow accountable, is as important as fighting terrorists on the ground.
Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)
The CCIT is a proposed United Nations treaty that would make all forms of international terrorism a crime under one single global law. India proposed it in 1996. It would oblige every country that joins to prosecute or hand over terrorists, and to deny them money, arms and safe havens. It has still not been adopted, mainly because countries cannot agree on how to define "terrorism".
India's demand for "no double standards" at the SCO is the same idea that lies behind its long push for the CCIT. A common legal definition of terrorism would make it harder for any country to call a group it supports "freedom fighters" while others call it a terrorist organisation.
- Meeting: 25th SCO Council of Heads of Government, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 19–20 October 2026
- SCO: founded 15 June 2001, Shanghai; 10 members; Secretariat in Beijing; RATS in Tashkent
- India and Pakistan: full SCO members since 2017; Iran since 2023; Belarus since 2024
- 26th SCO Heads of State summit: Bishkek, 31 August to 1 September 2026; chair passed to Pakistan
- SCO's "three evils": terrorism, separatism, extremism
- FATF: 40 Recommendations; India in "regular follow-up" since June 2024 (Singapore plenary)
- CCIT: proposed by India in 1996; still not adopted because of the definition dispute