ISLAMABAD: Pakistan urged Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states on Wednesday to turn the bloc’s shared vision into practical cooperation and “tangible outcomes,” as Islamabad prepares to host leaders of the 10-member Eurasian grouping at a summit next year.

Pakistan assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State this month and is holding the first meeting of national coordinators under its chairmanship, which is expected to set the program for a year of engagements leading up to the leaders’ summit in Islamabad in 2027.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar addressed national coordinators from SCO member states at the foreign ministry in Islamabad, alongside senior representatives of the SCO Secretariat and its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

“Welcoming the National Coordinators to the first meeting of the Council of National Coordinators under Pakistan’s Chairmanship, the DPM/FM reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to an open, inclusive, and constructive Chairmanship, guided by the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, and common development,” the foreign office said in a statement.

“He underlined the theme of Pakistan’s Chairmanship, ‘Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation, and Shared Prosperity’, and stressed the need to translate the SCO’s shared vision into practical cooperation and tangible outcomes,” it added.

The SCO was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Pakistan and India became full members in 2017, Iran joined in 2023 and Belarus became the bloc’s 10th member in 2024.

Its Council of Heads of State is the organization’s highest decision-making body, while the Council of National Coordinators manages interaction among member states and helps prepare meetings of senior SCO bodies.

Pakistan took over the 2026-27 chairmanship at an SCO leaders’ summit in Bishkek earlier this month and will oversee the organization’s program until it hosts the next Council of Heads of State summit in Islamabad.

Islamabad also chaired the SCO Council of Heads of Government previously, hosting a summit of prime ministers in October 2024.

Dar called for close coordination among member states as Pakistan prepares to host the SCO Council of Heads of State next year.

The three-day Council of National Coordinators meeting, which concludes on Wednesday, is discussing Pakistan’s plans for its 2026-27 chairmanship as well as preparations for upcoming SCO meetings and cooperation in political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas.