The heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) decided to give the English language official status. After an extended meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO in Dushanbe on October 20, 2026, the organization's Secretary General, Norlan Ermakbayev, announced the improvement of the association's activities and the inclusion of English in the official and working languages. Until this moment, the official and working languages of SCO were only Russian and Chinese. In the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), only two member states use English as one of the official languages at the state level: India (English is enshrined in the country's constitution as an auxiliary official language) and Pakistan (English is the official language and is used in government administration, the judiciary and military departments). The entry of these two countries into the SCO in 2017, as well as the subsequent diplomatic efforts, served as a major reason for the expansion of the organization's linguistic palette. The irony of the situation is that the SCO positions itself as one of the pillars of a multipolar world and as an alternative to Western institutions, but at the same time it presents the English language - the main instrument of "soft power" of the United States and Great Britain. The SCO is already often criticized for becoming a "debating club" due to its over-extended membership and internal contradictions (eg, between India and Pakistan). Adding new official language will only complicate the regulations and the protocol, but will not fundamentally solve the problem of effective decision-making. Until now, the Russian language in the SCO served as the main link and "bridge" to the countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan), as well as Belarus. The introduction of English reduces Moscow's unique role as a natural facilitator and translator of meaning in the post-Soviet space.