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Leaders of 15 countries will gather in Samarkand, Uzbekistan for the two-day 21st Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled to begin on September 15.
This year’s summit will be the first in-person meeting since the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. The last summit was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in June 2019.
What is SCO?
The SCO is primarily a geopolitical and security organization with limited infrastructure to pursue economic integration. The group occupies about a third of the world’s land and exports trillions of dollars a year.
It is dominated by consensus, limiting the scope for significant cooperation among its member states.
It is also more of a place for discussion and engagement, where high-level dignitaries from the region can come together to negotiate, rather than an alliance like the European Union or NATO, whose members share a common currency.
The SCO was established in June 2001 by the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia and China.
The group’s origins can be traced back to the post-Soviet era in 1996, when the countries known as the “Shanghai Five” came together
Earlier, it focused on regional security, working on regional security, reducing border troops and terrorism.
It has a particular focus on “conflict resolution,” which provided early success between China and Russia, and subsequently between the Central Asian republics.
Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
The organization has two permanent bodies – the SCO Secretariat in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorism Agency (RATS) in Tashkent.
The SCO Secretary-General and the Director of the SCO Executive Committee are appointed by the Council of Heads of State for a three-year term.
But the location of the SCO Council meeting has shifted between the eight member states, including India and Pakistan.
SCO member
In addition to the aforementioned countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia and China – India and Pakistan are also members of the group, both admitted in 2017.
The SCO also has three observer states – Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia – which may join at a later date. And “dialogue partners” – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
New member Iran
Iran is also one of the observer states, which was approved by the EU’s permanent membership last year.
Iran’s previous application to join the SCO has been blocked by UN sanctions, and some member states, including Tajikistan, have opposed Tehran’s perceived support for the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan.
main target
As in the SCO Charter adopted in St. Petersburg in 2002, the main objectives of the SCO are: “To strengthen mutual trust and good-neighbourly relations between member states; effective cooperation in the fields of transportation, tourism, environmental protection, etc.; work together to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; move towards the establishment of a democratic, just and rational new international political and economic order.”
Agenda for this year’s summit
According to a press release from India’s foreign ministry, the leaders are expected to review the organization’s activities over the past two decades and discuss the status and prospects of future multilateral cooperation.
The meeting is also expected to discuss hot issues of regional and global importance.
SCO Presidency
Uzbekistan took over the chairmanship of the organization from Tajikistan on September 17, 2021.
After the 2022 summit, the rotating presidency of the SCO will be handed over to India from the next year to September 2023. New Delhi is very likely to host the next SCO summit.
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