This article is authored by Monalisa Deka, assistant professor, Department of Public Administration, Assam Don Bosco University.

The SCO started in 1996 and accounts for 43 percent of the world’s population and 23 percent of the global economy.

The SCO summit in Bishkek is bringing together China, Russia, Iran, India and other regional powers for talks on trade, security and an increasingly contested global order.