PM Modi’s visit to the SCO is loaded with expectations for the BRICS summit and the UNSC elections

All eyes will be on whether PM Modi will indicate that he will attend the SCO 2027 summit in Islamabad. Photo credit: X/@Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s four-day visit to Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic is more than an outreach to two important Central Asian states or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The agenda will include engagements focused on three other multilateral platforms – the upcoming BRICS summit in September, the biennial UN Security Council term from 2028-2029, and planning for the long-awaited India-Central Asia summit, which has not met since 2022. Experts say the delay has led to speculation in the region that, compared to Mr. Delhi’s first engagement, he has lost interest in Delhi in particular. 2015, when he visited all five Central Asian states. His biggest challenge during this visit will be to reverse that perception.

In a speech at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University in Nur Sultan, addressed to the “people of Central Asia”, Mr Modi then promised that India would restore connectivity with the region. “In the age of globalization, Asia cannot remain fragmented. And Central Asia cannot remain distant and detached from India,” he said. Since 2012, when the previous Manmohan Singh government launched the “Connect Central Asia” policy, there was considerable hope that more trade, travel and pipelines would follow. However, while trade in goods has grown from US$500 million in 2010 to more than US$2 billion in 2025, the prospects for connectivity have been greatly reduced due to geopolitical shifts.

Published – 29 Aug 2026 18:57 IST