SCO Summit Backs Iran Against US, Silent on Ukraine — SkimNews
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- SCO held its 26th summit in Bishkek on August 31-September 1, attended by PM Modi, Presidents Putin and Xi, and Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian — the first since the US-Israel war on Iran began February 28, 2026.
- The Bishkek Declaration condemned US-Israeli strikes on Iran, condoled the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and affirmed members' "inalienable right" to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes — an indirect boost for Tehran in its nuclear negotiations with Washington.
- Member states notably stayed silent on Russia's role in the Ukraine war while criticizing "unilateral and unlimited build-up of global missile defence systems" by groups of states.
- Modi called for "no double standards" in fighting terrorism and championed connectivity that respects sovereignty — language read as a swipe at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which India has long refused to endorse.
- Pakistan assumed the SCO rotating chair with the next summit set for Islamabad, though New Delhi has not confirmed whether Modi will attend given post-Pahalgam tensions, Operation Sindoor, and India's decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty "in abeyance."
- The declaration also condemned "unauthorised satellite Internet services" on member territory — an apparent reference to Elon Musk's Starlink operating in parts of Eastern Ukraine and Iran.
Why it matters: The declaration exposes the SCO's selective solidarity: its 10 members rallied behind Iran against the US but offered Moscow no comparable cover on Ukraine, underscoring this China-Russia-led bloc's limits as a unified counterweight to Washington. For India, Modi's attendance at next year's Pakistan-hosted summit now hangs over ties strained since Operation Sindoor and the Indus Waters Treaty suspension.
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