SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization.

It’s a political, economic and military organization aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.

It was created in 2001.

Aim :

1. Strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states.
2. Enhancing ties in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, etc.
3. Maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.
4. The official working language of the SCO Secretariat is Russian and Chinese.

Recently, India has chaired the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) virtual Summit, leaders called for the formation of a “more representative” and multipolar world order in the global interest.

During this 23^rd Summit, Iran officially joined the SCO as the Ninth Member Country.

The theme of India’s chairpersonship of SCO is ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’, which is derived from the acronym coined by the Indian PM at the 2018 SCO Qingadao Summit.

It stands for: S: Security, E: Economic development, C: Connectivity, U: Unity, R: Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, E: Environmental protection.

Key Highlights of the 23rd S.C.O. Summit :

1. The New Delhi Declaration was signed by the member nations, which states that the international community must come together to “counter the activities of terrorist, separatist and extremist groups, paying special attention to preventing the spread of religious intolerance, aggressive nationalism, ethnic and racial discrimination, xenophobia, ideas of fascism and chauvinism.”
2. India refused to be part of the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) of the SCO members’ economic strategy statement, mentioning “interested member states’.
3. The Indian PM highlighted the significance of connectivity for enhancing mutual trade and trust among SCO member states. However, he stressed the need to uphold the fundamental principles of the SCO charter, specifically respecting member states’ sovereignty and regional integrity.
4. The leaders adopted two thematic joint statements – one on cooperation in countering the radicalisation leading to separatism, extremism, and terrorism & the second one cooperation in the field of digital transformation.

The Indian PM criticized countries that employ Cross-Border Terrorismas an instrument of their policies and provide shelter to terrorists, urging the SCO not to hesitate in condemning such nations and emphasized the importance of consistency in addressing these critical issues.