The SCO at 25: Dialogue over division

Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are gathering in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

When the SCO was founded in 2001, its primary mission was addressing regional security challenges. Yet over the past two and a half decades, its agenda spans far beyond security, encompassing economic integration, digital infrastructure, connectivity, and people-to-people exchanges.

The SCO's greatest achievement over the past 25 years is not simply its expanding membership. It is the powerful precedent it sets: proving that dialogue and cooperation can prevail over division. In a world increasingly fragmented by geopolitical tensions, the SCO offers a practical model for peaceful coexistence and mutual development.