Xi urges SCO to prioritise security and crack down on terror threats

Bishkek,UPDATED: Sep 1, 2026 16:06 IST

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to make security a central priority and jointly act against terrorism, separatism, extremism, transnational organised crime, drug trafficking and telecom fraud. Speaking at the SCO summit in Bishkek, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders, Xi also called for deeper cooperation on a wider security agenda.

He said the grouping should work together on nuclear safety and security, information security, bio-security and outer space security, and warned against external interference in member states' internal affairs. Xi also highlighted the SCO's growth over the past 25 years and outlined China's plans to expand cooperation in digital economy, agriculture, artificial intelligence, green energy, technology, trade and logistics.

Addressing the summit in the Kyrgyz capital, Xi said, "We should stay committed to taking security as a key goal, and foster an environment of common security. We should pursue coordinated measures to tackle traditional and non-traditional security threats." He added, "We should crack down on the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organised crime, drug trafficking, and telecom fraud."

Xi also spoke about the need for a wider international approach to nuclear security. "We believe in a sensible, coordinated, and balanced approach to nuclear security, and support a stronger multilateral partnership for nuclear safety and security," he said, without elaborating further. He said SCO member states should also strengthen cooperation on information security, bio-security and outer space security. In a veiled criticism of the US, Xi said, "We must prevent external forces from interfering in our internal affairs, endangering our political security, and undermining regional stability."

Looking back at the bloc's evolution, Xi said that over the last 25 years, the SCO had travelled an extraordinary journey and emerged as an important pillar of south-south cooperation. "Its biggest achievement is that it has steadily grown into a new type of regional cooperation organisation with the largest land area and population and enormous development potential," he said. "Its most important experience for cooperation is that it has found the right way of coexistence featuring non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, enabling regional countries to build a common home together," he said. He added that the SCO's "most valuable spiritual asset" was the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations, and pursuit of common development. The SCO members are China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. China, which founded the organisation with Russia and the Central Asian states, hosts the SCO headquarters in Beijing.

Xi, who is also widely expected to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, said China would continue to ensure the success of the SCO Digital Economy Forum, the SCO Agricultural Expo and other events. "We will develop an international AI application cooperation centre with fellow SCO countries, continue to work with fellow SCO countries to increase the installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind power each by 10 million kilowatts, implement 100 technological cooperation projects with other SCO countries in the next three years, and nurture more green industry talents through China-SCO cooperation," he said. To improve trade and logistics, Xi said China supports better performance and efficiency of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor and will set up a China-SCO port economic cooperation centre in Tianjin.

Xi's address at the SCO summit focused on tighter security coordination, resistance to external interference and a wider push for economic, technological and energy cooperation within the grouping.

With PTI Inputs

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