By Azam Tariq

Türkiye’s push for deeper engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is bringing fresh impetus to Pakistan’s Eurasian connectivity agenda, opening another regional platform to advance transport links through Iran towards Türkiye and broader markets, experts say.

The prospect has gained relevance after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s goal of becoming a full SCO member while stressing that deeper engagement with the organisation would not mean turning away from the West.

Türkiye currently holds SCO dialogue-partner status. Erdoğan said Ankara would consider taking its relationship with the organisation to full membership, although no timetable has been announced. According to Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications, he also put the country’s annual trade with SCO member states at nearly $150 billion.

For Pakistan, the development coincides with the start of its 2026–27 SCO chairmanship. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan assumed the chairmanship on September 1 under the theme “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity” and will host the next SCO Council of Heads of State meeting in 2027.

Pakistan and Iran are full SCO members, while Türkiye remains a dialogue partner seeking deeper engagement, providing another regional platform through which connectivity cooperation could be advanced.

Experts say Türkiye’s growing SCO engagement could strengthen the political environment for regional connectivity, although institutional alignment alone will not make existing transport corridors commercially viable.

Speaking to Wealth Pakistan, Dr Shafqat Munir Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director (Policy) at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), said Türkiye’s interest in deeper SCO engagement is a positive development for Pakistan because the two countries already have close cooperation across economic and other sectors.

He said Türkiye’s closer association with the SCO could reinforce cooperation already pursued through regional organisations such as the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and improve Pakistan’s prospects of linking with Central Asian and wider Eurasian markets.

A practical test of that connectivity agenda already exists in the Islamabad–Tehran–Istanbul (ITI) freight corridor.

According to Pakistan’s Press Information Department (PID), Pakistan and Türkiye agreed during railway talks on July 31 on the importance of the corridor’s early revival and its transformation into a sustainable regional trade route connecting South Asia, Central Asia and Europe.

Ahmed described the ITI corridor as an important but underutilised connection. He said the route had struggled to become fully functional, including because of security-related constraints, highlighting the gap between repeated political support for regional corridors and their regular commercial operation.

He said greater coordination among Pakistan, Iran and Türkiye could strengthen regional connectivity and provide Pakistani businesses with improved access towards Türkiye and European markets through wider Eurasian transport networks.

The existing bilateral trade base, however, remains modest compared with Türkiye’s wider trade with SCO economies. Türkiye’s Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said in July that Pakistan-Türkiye bilateral trade stood at around $1.2–1.3 billion.

Dr Bilal Zubair, Director of Research at the Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS), told Wealth Pakistan that Türkiye’s deeper SCO engagement could create additional opportunities for Pakistan because of the organisation’s sizeable trade, connectivity and energy potential.

He said Pakistan’s geographical location gave it the potential to connect South Asia with West Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East, while Türkiye could strengthen the western end of a wider regional connectivity network.

Zubair, however, stressed that Pakistan would need to strengthen its economic and institutional foundations to fully realise that role.

He called for improvements in physical infrastructure, consistent and investment-friendly policies, stronger law and order, protection for foreign investment and the development of skilled human resources.

Those requirements are also relevant to the ITI corridor. Ahmed pointed to security-related challenges affecting its functioning, while Zubair identified infrastructure, policy consistency and the investment environment among the areas requiring improvement if Pakistan is to establish itself as a reliable regional connector.

Experts said Türkiye’s SCO push provides additional political momentum and another platform for coordination, while translating that opportunity into greater trade will require practical progress on railway modernisation, operational efficiency, technical coordination, security and private-sector participation.

Such measures, they said, would help turn long-discussed Eurasian connectivity plans into commercially viable transport routes linking Pakistan more effectively with Türkiye, Central Asia and wider markets.

Credit: INP-WealthPk