The 24th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State (SCO Summit) was held on 04 July 2024 in Astana, under the presidency of Kazakhstan.
- Belarus has become the 10th member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
- External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar led the Indian delegation to Astana for the Summit as the Prime Minister skipped the summit.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was formed in 2001. It evolved from the Shanghai Five, comprising Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China.
- In 2001, with the addition of Uzbekistan, the Five became the SCO and broadened the scope of cooperation to include trade, connectivity, tourism, etc.
- India joined the SCO in 2017 along with Pakistan.
- India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are full members. This year Belarus was admitted as a full member.
- Afghanistan and Mongolia are observers. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Türkiye and the UAE have dialogue partner status.
Importance of SCO for India
- SCO is one of the few international organisations which deal with security issues and primarily has Asian members.
- SCO membership allows India to participate in a forum which enhances its scope of cooperation with Central Asian countries, which have not had particularly close relations with India since their formation in 1991.
- SCO also matters for maintaining communication with major actors in the region on common security issues.
- SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) assists members in the preparation and staging of counter-terrorism exercises, analyses key intelligence information coming in from the member states, and shares information on terrorist movements and drug trafficking.
- India’s priorities in SCO are shaped by Prime Minister’s vision of a ‘SECURE’ SCO. SECURE stands for Security, Economic cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection.
- India, under its first-ever presidency of SCO, hosted the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State on 04 July 2023 in virtual format.
