SCO
News:
- 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.
