SCO fights ‘anti-West dictators club’ tag

Source: The post is based on the article “SCO fights ‘anti-West dictators club’ tag” published in The Hindu on 15^th September 2022.

What is the News?

Days before the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, the SCO officials said that the SCO is not a military bloc nor is it aimed at any one country or group.

About the statement

The statement is issued because the western countries consider SCO as a counter to their western coalition and the majority of the SCO countries are particularly targeted by the West — Russia, Iran, China, Belarus and Turkey. These countries are accused by the western countries for their human rights violations and domestic anti-democratic moves.

According to India, the SCO is a venture for constructive cooperation and peace and stability in the world. There could be concerns of different countries on various kinds of issues, but the forum is there to talk about these issues.

What is Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)?

About the upcoming SCO Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

The SCO Summit will bring together 15 regional “strongmen”, including Russian President, Chinese President, Iranian and Turkish Presidents and Indian Prime Minister, etc. The major significance are,

a) This will be the first such summit after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has sparked sanctions by the U.S. and the EU and their partners, b) This is the first time the Chinese President is stepping out for a multilateral conference since the COVID-19 pandemic, c) India will host the SCO summit in 2023 so the summit is important for India to get the cooperation of all SCO countries, d) According to the Uzbekistan President, the “Samarkand Spirit” would launch a “new format” in a world where the present international system has begun to “falter”, and e) India will look closely at the Samarkand declaration for language on terrorism and the listing of terror groups such as the LeT and the JeM that target India.