NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Bishkek on Monday to lead Indian delegation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting, where regional security, terrorism and the geopolitical fallout of the West Asia crisis are set to dominate discussions when the conclave opens Tuesday.
According to a government statement on Monday, Singh will “highlight India’s commitment towards global peace, amidst the prevailing global security challenges,” while firmly underlining New Delhi’s “zero tolerance for terrorism & extremism” before the 10-member grouping that spans much of Eurasia’s strategic arc.
Singh is also expected to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines with counterparts from key participating nations.
The Bishkek meeting comes at a fraught geopolitical moment. With the US-Israel and Iran confrontation and wider West Asia instability threatening energy routes, economic corridors and regional security calculations, SCO members are expected to deliberate on ways to limit broader strategic disruption.
At last year’s SCO defence ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, held in the immediate aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, India sharpened its anti-terror pitch by demanding an unequivocal regional stance against cross-border terrorism and refused to endorse the joint statement after concerns over the attack were not adequately reflected.
Singh also reiterated that connectivity initiatives must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity, language widely seen as a pointed reference to projects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the SCO was originally conceived as a Eurasian security bloc to counter terrorism, separatism and extremism. It has since expanded into one of the world’s largest political-security groupings, with India and Pakistan joining as full members in 2017, Iran in 2023 and Belarus later.
India’s entry was strategically significant, giving it a direct seat in a forum dominated by China-Russia influence while also opening a structured channel into Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan, the current host, holds particular strategic value in India’s Connect Central Asia policy.
Defence ties between New Delhi and Bishkek have strengthened steadily through military training, counter-terror cooperation and the annual “Khanjar” special forces exercise, which has become a cornerstone of bilateral military engagement. India also supports Kyrgyz capacity-building through training programmes and strategic exchanges, part of a broader push to retain influence in a region where China’s footprint has expanded rapidly.