Highlights of the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit – GK Updates

Highlights of the 17^th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit – GK Updates:

Dear Readers, the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit was held recently, Here were have given the important highlights of the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit, candidates those who are preparing for the upcoming examination can make use of it.

The 17^th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit has been organaised in Astana, Kazakhstan. The two day summit was organized under the Presidency of Kazakhstan. The theme of the summit is “Future Energy”.

Highlights of the Summit:

· India and Pakistan become full time members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

· Russia strongly supports India’s membership whereas China Supports Pakistan’s membership.

· The inclusion of India and Pakistan into the SCO would mean the addition of another 1.45 billion people, which would make the grouping cover around 40 per cent of the global population.

Background of SCO:

· The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organization.

· Earlier it had been known as Shanghai Five, because Uzbekistan was not a member in it. Later in 2001 Uzbekistan joined the group, and they renamed it as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which was founded by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai.

· The primary motive behind the formation was to ensure stability along the borders.

· It functions on broadly two parameters,

o The first being trade, banking, connectivity and energy.

o Second, the fight against terrorism under Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) which includes joint exercises, maintaining a data bank of terrorists and coordination in similar areas.

· Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), which is headquartered in Tashkent and is aimed at promoting cooperation against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

· SCO considered as a counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Main Objectives of SCO:

· Strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states.

· 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.

· Moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

India’s Benefits after getting full Membership:

· India has been an observer of SCO since 2005 and has participated in ministerial-level meetings, which focused on security and economic co-operation in the Eurasian region.

· Becoming a full member of the body will strengthen India’s position in Central Asia. It will also help the country’s aim to regional integration; promote connectivity and stability across borders.

· India, one of the largest energy consuming countries in the world, is also likely to get greater access to major gas and oil exploration projects in Central Asia once it becomes part of the SCO.

· Cooperation on counter-terrorism is expected to emerge as a major point of India’s exchange with SCO.

· Experts say India’s inclusion may even bring down Beijing’s overarching influence over the SCO.

Head Quarters of SCO: Beijing, China.

Member Countries of SCO:

Member Country
Republic of India	Narendra Modi Prime Minister
People's Republic of China	Xi Jinping President of China	Renminbi (Yuan)
Republic of Kazakhstan	Nursultan Nazarbayev President of Kazakhstan
Russian Federation	Vladimir Putin President of Russia
Republic of Tajikistan	Emomali Rahmon President of Tajikistan
Republic of Uzbekistan	Shavkat Mirziyoyev President of Uzbekistan
Islamic Republic of Pakistan	Nawaz Sharif Prime Minister of Pakistan
Kyrgyzstan Republic	Almazbek Atambayev President of Kyrgyzstan