The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has officially named Lahore, Pakistan, as its Tourism and Cultural Capital for the period of 2026-27. The designation was announced on September 2, 2026, at the 26th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, per official summit bulletins.
The decision to designate Lahore was initially finalized in April 2026 during a meeting of the heads of tourism administrations of SCO member states, also convened in Bishkek. The announcement coincided with Pakistan assuming the rotating SCO presidency for 2026-27.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif outlined the chairmanship theme as Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity. Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon congratulated Pakistan on assuming the SCO chairmanship and expressed official support for Lahore's designation during the Bishkek sessions.
The title of Tourism and Cultural Capital has been rotated annually among SCO member states since its inception in 2022. According to Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting plans, the country intends to organize four flagship cultural events in Lahore, complemented by a year-long calendar of smaller cultural programs aimed at boosting regional exchanges.
Previous cities that have held the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital title include Varanasi, India, for 2022-23; Almaty, Kazakhstan, for 2023-24; Qingdao, China, for 2024-25; and Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, for 2025-26.
Specific budget allocations or detailed funding mechanisms for Lahore's year as the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital have not been explicitly detailed in available government coverage.
For Lahore and Pakistan, this designation is expected to boost tourism, enhance people-to-people exchanges among SCO member states, and strengthen cultural diplomacy on an international scale. For India, as a prominent SCO member, this development in a neighboring country forms part of broader regional cultural cooperation frameworks within the organization, operating alongside existing bilateral diplomatic contexts.
