An Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation is known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Shanghai Five, which was founded by the presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in 1996, was renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2001. On September 19, 2003, the SCO came into effect. Since its founding in 2001, the SCO has mostly concentrated on issues related to regional security, its struggle against local terrorism, ethnic secession, and religious extremism. Regional development is one of the SCO’s current top priorities. Since 2005, the SCO has participated in the UN General Assembly as an observer. It is viewed as a counterweight to NATO and is a nine-member economic and security bloc that has grown to be one of the biggest trans-regional international organisations. The SCO is recognized as one of the most important summits in the Central Asian region, where other nations have strong interests in commerce, connectivity, and resource extraction. More than 60% of Eurasia’s land area, 40% of the world’s population, and more than 30% of the world’s GDP are all accounted for by it. China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran are among the SCO’s nine current members. Iran has joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was recently expanded to include permanent members at its summit in Uzbekistan in 2022.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 2022 just convened a conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The Samarkand Declaration was signed by the signatory states. After India took over from Uzbekistan as chair of the eight-nation organisation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to host the summit in 2023.
Highlights of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit:
- The concerns that Indian and Chinese officials have expressed to the Russian President over the conflict in Ukraine reflect worldwide concerns about the consequences of Moscow’s assault against the needs of people on every continent.
- According to PM Modi, the Indian economy will grow by 7.5% this year, making it the fastest-growing among the world’s major economies. India is moving closer to being a manufacturing centre, the prime minister added in his speech in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
- The SCO member states intend to create an uniform list of terrorist, separatist, and extremist organisations whose operations are illegal on their respective soils. To this end, they will develop shared principles and methodologies.
- The summit will take held in person for the first time since the COVID-19 epidemic and against the backdrop of several significant world events.
- Since the forces of the two countries clashed at the Galwan Valley in 2020, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet for the first time. The two forces have just begun the process of leaving Ladakh’s Patrolling Point 15 behind.
- The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the UN claims is the primary cause of the world food and cost of living crisis, will also be a major theme at the summit.
- In order to improve connectivity and contribute to the creation of dependable and robust supply chains in the area, India asked member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to grant each other complete rights of transit.
- For the years 2022–2023, Varanasi will serve as the SCO’s tourism and cultural capital, a designation intended to highlight both the region’s vibrant cultural and historical history and the member states’ tourism potential. Additionally, it will encourage travel, cultural, and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member nations.
- The SCO member states emphasized the need to rehabilitate Afghanistan and include Iran in regional plans to foster a more welcoming neighborhood in the run-up to the summit. The decision to build a road between China, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan signals that the SCO is evolving from a political group to a regional organisation with a variety of developmental objectives.
- Increasing the well-being of its shared citizens and preserving its members’ connection to global markets are key priorities for the SCO. The expansion of its mission will defend less powerful members from attempts by more powerful ones, like Russia and China, to control the SCO’s organisational agenda and identity.
Objectives of the SCO:
- Enhancing neighborliness and respect between the member states.
- Encouraging efficient collaboration in the fields of politics, trade, the economy, science, and culture.
- Strengthening connections in areas such as environmental protection, energy, transportation, and tourism.
- Maintain and uphold the region’s peace, security, and stability.
- Creation of a new international political and economic order that is democratic, fair, and logical.
Opportunities for India During the SCO Summit:
- SCO shows promise in a number of areas where all the member countries may find common interests.
- In order to improve collaboration in traditional medicine, research and technology, as well as startups and innovation, India has already made substantial steps. The fact that India will take over the SCO’s rotating annual chairmanship at the conclusion of the summit makes this edition of the summit particularly significant.
- As a loud advocate for regional and trans-regional connectivity, New Delhi may use the SCO to pressure Pakistan to change its position and strategy on tying together Central Asia and South Asia.
- It can also serve as a platform for India to promote the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the Chabahar Port Project . India’s SCO membership has the potential to advance connectivity, stability across borders, and regional integration.
- Iran’s admission to the SCO will strengthen India’s outreach in the Eurasian region and ensure effective communication between India and Iran. India too maintains that some degree of the world’s energy security will be addressed by Iranian oil’s admission into the market.
Challenges for SCO:
- Combating terrorism, extremism, and separatism; trafficking in drugs and weapons; illegal immigration; and other security-related issues are among the SCO’s concerns.
- Despite being close in proximity, the SCO’s decision-making is complicated by the great diversity of its members’ histories, backgrounds, languages, national interests, and systems of governance.
Conclusion:
The heads of the SCO countries affirmed the Samarkand Declaration’s prohibition on interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states in the name of battling terrorism. The SCO nations backed nuclear disarmament efforts and the continued non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The SCO’s next summit will be held in India in 2023, giving Modi the chance to transform the group into something more significant and unified. The Shanghai spirit will direct its multilateral cooperation vision in terms of its prospects. Additionally, the SCO system offers a significant assurance for future international collaboration. Its idea of multilateral collaboration will be significantly fueled by the new kind of international relations. In the years to come, the SCO will be fully capable of influencing more people and producing more significant outcomes.