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- India’s external affairs minister has attended the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan.
- While addressing the meeting,External Affairs Minister has urged the member nations of SCO for greater counter-terror cooperation in the backdrop of terror strikes at Pulwama and Sri Lanka.
- She also said that India is open to strengthen the Regional Anti-Terror Structure(RATS) of SCO to fight terrorism and security challenges in the region.She has also said that India remains committed to regional connectivity and peace in Afghanistan.
- Further,she has urged the members of the SCO to support efforts of India for the comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council to make it more representative and effective.
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,also known as the Shanghai Pact,is a Eurasian political,economic,and military organisation.It was founded in 2001 by the leaders of China,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- Apart from Uzbekistan,the other five countries have been a part of the Shanghai 5 since 1996.The cooperation was renamed to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation after Uzbekistan joined the organisation in 2001.India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members in 2017.
- The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) is a permanent organ of the SCO.It serves to promote cooperation of member states against (a)terrorism (b)separatism and (c)extremism.The head of RATS is elected to a three-year term.Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.Its headquartered in Tashkent,Uzbekistan.