Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Context:

India chaired the 23^rd SCO Heads of State Council Meeting via video conference.

Summit Highlights:

• Admitting Iran as a member state. [Agreed at SCO summit in Dushanbe (2021)]
• Signed New Delhi Declaration to counter activities of terrorist, separatist and extremist groups.
  • India abstained from signing in support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
  • Declared 2024 as the SCO Year of Environment.
• Unlocked Statement on Cooperation in Digital Transformation.

Initiatives under India’s chairmanship (2022-23):

• Established 5 new pillars of cooperation: Startups and Innovation, Traditional Medicine, Youth Empowerment, Digital Inclusion, and Shared Buddhist Heritage
• Varanasi – 1^st tourism and Cultural capital of SCO.
• Events such as SCO Millet Food Festival, Film Festival, International Conference on Shared Buddhist Heritage etc.
• Theme of India’s chairmanship – “Towards a SECURE SCO” (Acronym coined by the Indian PM at the 2018 SCO Qingadao Summit)
  • S: Security, E: Economic development, C: Connectivity, U: Unity, R: Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, E: Environmental protection.

About SCO:

• HQ – Beijing
• A permanent intergovernmental political, economic, and military organization founded in Shanghai in 2001.
• Genesis – Shanghai Five (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan) – 1996
• Current Members – China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
• India: Full member of the SCO at Astana Summit (2017)
• Chairmanship – Rotation for a year by Member States
• Official Languages – Russian and Chinese
• Structure –
  • SCO Secretariat (Beijing)
  • Heads of State Council (Supreme SCO body)
  • Heads of Government Council
  • Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs
  • Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) (Tashkent)

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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]

• 1 and 2 only
• 3 only
• 2 and 3 only
• 1, 2 and 3

Source: The Hindu