Context:
Pakistan invites PM Modi to the SCO meet in Islamabad
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO):
- A Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance.
- Established in – 2001, in Shanghai, China.
- Founding members – China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan
- Known as the “Shanghai Five”
- Full Members – China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus
- Belarus has become the 10th member state of the SCO at the 2024 summit
- Observer States – Afghanistan, Mongolia.
- Dialogue Partners – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey.
- Structure –
- SCO Secretariat (Beijing)
- Heads of State Council (HSC) – The supreme decision-making body.
- Heads of Government Council (HGC) – Discusses multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas.
- Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) – Considers issues related to day-to-day activities.
- Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) – Focuses on combating terrorism, separatism, and extremism.
- Headquartes at Tashkent
Recent Developments:
- Astana Declaration – The 24th SCO Summit in Astana adopted the Astana Declaration and approved 25 strategic agreements on energy, security, trade, finance, and information security.
- People’s Republic of China will assume the SCO chairmanship for the next term, and Qingdao (China) will be appointed the SCO’s tourism and cultural capital for 2024-2025.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
Consider the following:
1. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
2. Missile Technology Control Regime
3. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
India is a member of which of the above?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2022 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
