India will Host SCO Summit in New Delhi on 3-4 July, 2023

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1 year ago

SCO Summit July 2023

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit will be held in New Delhi, India on July 3-4.

This will be the first visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India since the conflict in Ukraine.

The agenda for the summit is expected to focus on counter-terrorism, Afghan stability, connectivity initiatives such as the Chabahar Port and International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), and India’s outreach to Eurasia.

The SCO foreign ministers will meet in Goa on May 4-5 to finalise the summit’s agenda.

Many foreign ministers from the SCO member states have confirmed their attendance for the upcoming meetings, except for China and Pakistan whose confirmations are still awaited.

Several meetings are scheduled ahead of the Summit, including the National Security Advisors meeting, the Defence Ministers meeting, and the foreign ministers’ meeting.

Most countries have attended in-person meetings of SCO held in India, but Pakistan has only attended virtually.
- Pakistan attended meetings related to Power Ministers and shared Buddhist heritage.
- However, Pakistan recently backed out of an SCO Armed Forces Contribution meeting after India objected to the use of maps that show Kashmir as Pakistani territory.
- On the other hand, Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires Salman Sharif attended meetings related to physical culture and sports development and SCO Tourism.

The SCO is an organisation made up of several governments that works together to maintain peace, security, and stability in the Eurasian region.

It was established in 2001 and its official Charter was signed in 2002 and became active in 2003.

The organisation is often considered a counterbalance to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and it is a nine-member group focused on economics and security, making it one of the biggest international organisations that spans across different regions.

Before the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan formed the Shanghai Five in 1996.

The Shanghai Five was created after a series of negotiations between the four former Soviet republics and China to ensure stability along their borders.

There were originally six countries designated as “Dialogue Partners” with the SCO: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. Later in the year 2021, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia also became Dialogue Partners with the organisation.

The organisation has two permanent bodies – SCO Secretariat in Beijing and Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.

The chairmanship of the organisation rotates among its member states every year.

The most recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in 2022.

SCO Structure- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has four main bodies –
- The Heads of State Council, which is the highest authority in SCO, decides on internal matters and interactions with other countries and international organisations.
- The Heads of Government Council approves the budget and deals with economic issues.
- The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs takes care of daily activities.
- The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was created to fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism.