Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Represents India at SCO Culture Ministers’ Meeting in Kyrgyzstan

Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat represented India at the 23rd Meeting of the Culture Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states, held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan on Sunday. Shekhawat arrived in Bishkek on Saturday, where he was welcomed at the airport by Chinarbek Zholdoshev, Head of the Department of Cultural and Material Heritage of Kyrgyzstan, along with Birender Singh Yadav, India’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. According to a post shared by the Embassy of India in Kyrgyzstan on X, the Union Minister participated in the SCO Culture Ministers’ Meeting being held from July 18 to July 20, 2026, in Cholpon-Ata. Kyrgyzstan currently holds the SCO Chairmanship for 2025–2026. President Sadyr Japarov has announced the theme of the chairmanship as “25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity.” Earlier this year, in April, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Bishkek. During the meeting, he stressed the need for a collective and uncompromising approach to combat terrorism, separatism, and extremism by eliminating safe havens and rejecting any political justification for such activities. Addressing the gathering, Rajnath Singh said that “Operation Sindoor” reflected India’s firm resolve that centres of terrorism would no longer remain beyond accountability. He also urged the international community to remain vigilant against the threat posed by state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, stating that there should be no room for selective approaches or double standards in addressing such challenges. He further called on SCO member countries to take decisive action against those who support, shelter, or facilitate terrorist activities, emphasizing that a united stand against terrorism, separatism, and extremism is essential for ensuring regional peace and prosperity. The SCO was established on June 15, 2001, with China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as its founding members. India and Pakistan joined the organisation in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024, taking the total number of member states to 10. The organisation also includes Afghanistan and Mongolia as observer states and has 14 dialogue partners: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Türkiye, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.