Attention is being drawn to the trip made by the defense ministers of China and Russia to attend a SCO ministerial conference in Delhi. As the organization’s head, India has a number of bilateral concerns to discuss with other SCO members, including de-escalating the border standoff with China and providing India with Russian spare parts and weapons during the conflict in Ukraine.
The SCO, which is open to all nations and emphasizes the emergence of non-Western security organizations, has a long line of prospective members. However, despite a rise in regional governments’ interest in the SCO, internal conflicts inside the organization are putting the organization’s strategic coherence in jeopardy.
Who are the Members?
Membership:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is made up of eight countries: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The SCO is about to welcome Iran.
Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are three observers who want to keep tabs on Tehran.
Observers:
Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are three observers who want to keep eyes on Tehran.
Dialogue Partners:
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are on the list of established and upcoming dialogue partners.
SCO Summit 2023: Highlights
The following are the highlights of the SCO Summit 2023:
- “The meeting gave an opportunity to dwell on the state of multilateral cooperation in SCO to address regional & global issues of interest,” said external minister Dr. Jaishankar.
- A Pakistani Foreign Minister visited the SCO summit for the first time in 12 years while attending an Indian-hosted international gathering. There have been rumors that Pakistan and India’s relations have “thaw,” but Dr. Jaishankar and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have both ruled out the idea of bilateral meetings to that end.
- The SCO Foreign Ministers evaluated the progress of the decisions that will be adopted at the next SCO Summit in July during the meeting. The gathering provided a chance to reflect on the SCO’s multilateral cooperation in relation to regional and geopolitical challenges.
Members countries of SCO
There are nine members:
- China
- India
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Russia
- Pakistan
- Tajikistan
- Uzbekistan
- Iran
Iran has joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was recently expanded to include permanent members at its summit in Uzbekistan in 2022. Iran’s position was upgraded from observer to full member with the approval of the eight SCO members. Iran submitted a full membership application to the group in 2008. For more than 15 years, it was an observer member. At the Samarkand conference, Iran was accepted as a permanent member of the SCO. Iran will participate in the SCO summit held by India in 2023 as a full member.
Three Observer States are considering becoming full members:
- Afghanistan
- Belarus
- Mongolia
Six dialogue partners are present:
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Cambodia
- Nepal
- South Asia
- Turkey
These are SCO’s primary objectives:
- To enhance the member nations’ effective cooperation in trade, politics, research, the economy, technology, and culture. To increase mutual trust and good neighborliness among the member states.
- the sectors of tourism, energy, environmental protection, and education;
- collaborating to uphold and preserve regional security, stability, and peace; working to construct a new, democratic, logical, and equitable global economic and political system.
- While the organization conducts its exterior policy in accordance with the non-targeting and non-alignment tenets, it bases its internal policy on the concepts of joint benefit, mutual trust, mutual consultations, equality, respect for cultural variety, and a desire for shared progress.
Organization and Operation
- The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the SCO’s top decision-making body.
- The HSC meets once a year to discuss and decide upon all significant SCO issues.
- The SCO Heads of Government Council (HGC) convenes once a year to debate the organization’s multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas, as well as to address pressing concerns relating to the economy and other forms of cooperation.
- The organization is composed of two permanent bodies: the SCO Secretariat, located in Beijing, and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), situated in Tashkent.
- The Council of Heads of State appoints the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS and the SCO Secretary-General for three years.