Known also as the Shanghai Pact, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a transcontinental political, economic, security, and military alliance. It is the largest regional organization in the world in terms of both population and geographic coverage, accounting for more than 30% of the globe’s GDP and over 60% of Eurasia’s land area.
Background
The Shanghai Five, a mutual security pact established in 1996 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, has been replaced by the SCO. The leaders of these countries, together with Uzbekistan, gathered on June 15 in Shanghai to create a new organization with increased political and economic cooperation. The SCO Charter was adopted on 19 September 2003 after being signed on 7 July 2002. Since then, eight states have joined, with Pakistan and India joining on June 9, 2017. At the Dushanbe Summit in Tajikistan in September 2021, Iran began the process of becoming a full member. Several nations are involved as partners or observers. The Heads of State Council (HSC), the SCO’s top decision-making body, convenes once a year to oversee the organization. Additionally, members frequently engage in military drills to foster coordination and cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other external threats as well as to uphold regional peace and stability. Due to its increasing significance in the Asia-Pacific, the SCO is commonly considered the “alliance of the East” and has served as the main pillar of the region’s security.
Membership
The People’s Republic of China, the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the Russian Federation are the eight members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Mongolia are the four observer states that make up the SCO. The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Turkey, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have six dialogue partners. These are the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Azerbaijan (SCO).
Partnership in security
The SCO is primarily focused on security-related issues, frequently identifying terrorism, separatism, and extremism as the key dangers it faces. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was founded at the SCO summit, which took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on June 16–17, 2004. The SCO declared measures to combat transnational drug offenses as part of its counterterrorism strategy on April 21, 2006. To increase cooperation on matters including security, crime, and drug trafficking, the SCO and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) inked a deal in the Tajik capital Dushanbe in October 2007. The organization is also changing how cyber warfare is defined, arguing that the spread of information damaging to other countries’ spiritual, moral, and cultural realms should be seen as a security issue. According to a 2017 The Diplomat article, the SCO has used RATS to thwart 600 terrorist plots and deport 500 terrorists.
Military activities
Over the past few years, the organization’s activities have grown to encompass heightened intelligence sharing, counterterrorism, and military collaboration. Members frequently engage in military drills to foster cooperation and coordination in the fight against terrorism and other external challenges as well as to uphold regional peace and stability. There have been several cooperative military drills between the SCO. With the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China, the first of these was held in 2003. Since then, under the aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China and Russia have collaborated on massive war exercises called Peace Mission 2005, Peace Mission 2007, and Peace Mission 2009. Members have used the SCO as a stage for more significant military announcements.
Financial collaboration
The Eurasian Economic Union also includes nations like Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The SCO member nations signed a Framework Agreement to advance economic cooperation on September 23, 2003. While other, more immediate steps would be taken to enhance the flow of commodities in the region, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced a long-term goal to establish a free trade area in the SCO. On September 23, 2004, a follow-up plan with 100 specific tasks was signed. At the SCO summit in Moscow on October 26, 2005, the secretary general of the organization declared that the organization would give priority to joint energy initiatives, including those in the oil and gas industry, the search for new hydrocarbon deposits, and the shared use of water resources. At that summit, it was also decided to establish the SCO Interbank Consortium to finance future collaborative projects. China announced plans to offer a US$10 billion loan to other SCO members on June 16, 2009, at the Yekaterinburg Summit, to support their faltering economy amid the world financial crisis.
Intercultural Harmony
Within the SCO framework, there is also intercultural collaboration. On April 12, 2002, the SCO’s culture ministers convened for the first time in Beijing and signed a joint statement pledging continued collaboration. The third gathering of the ministers of culture took held on April 27 and 28, 2006, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. During the Astana Summit in 2005, an SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was hosted for the first time. Additionally, Kazakhstan has proposed holding an SCO traditional dance festival in Astana in 2008.
