The Taliban administration has not been invited to the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China, despite earlier claims by Taliban officials that they would take part.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin announced on Thursday that the summit will be held from 31 August to 1 September in Tianjin. He released a list of participants that excluded the Taliban.
In April, the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said China had extended an invitation, but the group was absent from the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in July. Mongolia, another observer state, has been formally invited.
The SCO leaders’ summit will bring together delegations from more than 20 countries and at least 10 international organisations, including the United Nations. Leaders from Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are among those expected to attend.
Founded in 2001, the SCO’s main members are China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Iran and, since 2024, Belarus. Observer states include Afghanistan and Mongolia, while dialogue partners span the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Liu said this would be the fifth SCO summit hosted by China and described it as the organisation’s largest since its founding. Leaders will review the SCO’s achievements and discuss future areas of cooperation.
Apart from Russia, no SCO member state has recognised the Taliban administration.
