Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the country will host the next Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in 2027. Speaking at a road development project in Rawalpindi, Sharif emphasized the need to begin preparations immediately to make Islamabad ready and beautiful for the event. However, he did not disclose the exact date for the summit, which is organized by member countries on a rotational basis.

This announcement came just two weeks after the recent SCO summit held in Tianjin, China, where Pakistan raised the issue of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). India, following the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April—which claimed 26 lives—has suspended the treaty. The SCO member nations strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack and supported India's stance that double standards in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable. Additionally, the organization condemned terrorist attacks in Pakistan's Balochistan province, including those in Khuzdar and on the Jaffer Express.

Pakistan had previously hosted the SCO’s Council of Heads of Government Summit in 2024, where Prime Minister Sharif highlighted the importance of investing in regional connectivity and cooperation. The government declared a three-day holiday to mark the summit. Established in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has grown from six founding members to a group of 26 countries spanning Asia, Europe, and Africa. Its members include major emerging and developing economies such as China, Russia, and India, representing nearly half of the world's population and a quarter of the global economy.