Strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states;
- SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization.
- It’s a Eurasian political, economic, and military organization aiming to maintain peace, security, and stability in the region.
- It was created in 2001.
- The SCO Charter was signed in 2002 and entered into force in 2003.
- It is a statutory document which outlines the organization’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.
- The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.
Members countries of SCO
There are 8 Member States:
- China
- India
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Russia
- Pakistan
- Tajikistan
- Uzbekistan
There are 4 Observer States interested in acceding to full membership:
- Afghanistan
- Belarus
- Iran
- Mongolia
There are 6 Dialogue Partners:
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Cambodia
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
- Turkey
SCO’s main goals are as follows:
promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology, and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security, and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
Importance of SCO for India:
- SCO is Part of India’s stated policy of pursuing “multi-alignments”.
- Indian perspective, the strategic and geographical space in which the SCO straddles is extremely important.
- The challenges of terrorism, radicalism, and instability pose a grave threat to Indian sovereignty and integrity
- India requested access to intelligence and information from SCO’s counter-terrorism body, the Tashkent- based Regional Anti-Terror Structure (RATS).
- A stable Afghanistan to is in India’s interest, and RATS provides access to non-Pakistan-centred counter-terrorism information
- With the landlocked states of Central Asia, and Uzbekistan even doubly landlocked, accessing these resources becomes difficult. In this regard, India has prioritized the construction of the International North-South Transport Joining SCO, it will help India to connect with South Asian states.
- The Central Asian region is richly endowed with vital minerals and natural resources.
- The major interest is in energy co-operation. But India will also have to deal with an assertive China, which will push its Belt and Road Initiative.
- SCO membership will help India to be a major pan-Asian player, which is currently boxed in the South Asian Region.