New vistas for India

New vistas for India

SCO

News:

1. China will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SC0) summit at Qingdao in June, 2018

Important Facts:

2. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian multi-government organization established in 2001

3. The organization was launched by China, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan

4. At present there are 8 members. India and Pakistan joined as permanent members in 2017

5. SCO was a formal initiative borne out of the Shanghai Five Mechanism created in 1996 in the backdrop of US’s unilateral moves.

6. The SCO aims to create a ‘fair and rational new international political and economic order’.

7. The SCO’s objectives are centred on cooperation between member nations on security-related concerns, military cooperation, intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism and cultural cooperation

8. SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) provides a platform for regional cooperation to combat terrorism

9. Importance of upcoming summit:

• Russia China has been considering Iran’s formally entry to SCO
• This could indicate alliance of SCO members against the U.S withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal.
• Iran’s entry to SCO could strain India-USA ties and counter Indian government initiatives. For e.g. the Indo-Pacific quadrilateral with the U.S., Australia and Japan
• The SCO summit will provide a platform for India, China and Russia to foster regional ties.
• Summit to help China, Russia and India navigate the adverse effects of US’s Treasury sanctions
• The summit would be significant for India as it will test India’s ‘plurilateralism’ foreign policy

Note: Plurilateral treaty is a type of multi-lateral treaty signed between a limited numbers of countries with a particular interest in the subject of the treaty.  India is member such mini-multilateral organizations that serve a variety of purposes.