Shanghai cooperation organization sco

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Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

“Ever since the continents started interacting politically, some 500 years ago, Eurasia has been the center of world power”

Brezezinsksi

Introduction:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Russia. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation.

Secretariat: Beijing
Secretary General: Bolat Nurgaliev
Official Languages: Chinese, Russian
Members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Russia
Observers: Pakistan, India, Iran, Mongolia
Purpose: To further cooperation among member contries on social, cultural, economic and security fronts. While focusing primarily on security matters, the organization in recent years, expanded its mandate to also include cooperation in the economic, humanitarian and technological fields.

Structure:
a) The Council of Heads of State is the top decision-making body in the SCO. This council meets at the SCO summits, which are held each year in one of the member states' capital cities.

b) The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organisation. This council also holds annual summits, at which members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation. The council also approves the organization’s budget.
c) The council of Foreign Ministers also holds regular meetings, where they discuss the current international situation and the SCO's interaction with other international organizations
d) As the name suggests, the Council of National Coordinators coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO's charter.
e) The Secretariat of the SCO is the primary executive body of the organisation.

RATS (Regional Anti Terrorism Structure):
It is Tashkent based permanent organ of SCO. It is established to guard against the terrorist activities.

Summits:
2001: Beijing, China
2009: Yekaterinburg, Russia
2010: Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

History and Background:
In 1996, China, Russia and three Central Asian states bordering on China- Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan – signed the Shanghai Agreement on Confidence Building in the Border Areas in the military field followed in 1997 by the agreement on Mutual Reduction of Military Forces in the border areas.
The shared security regime formed the first multi-lateral bond between these countries called the Shanghai Five.

In 2001, the same group of countries along with Uzbekistan further consolidated their relations by setting up the SCO as an institution.

Activities of SCO:

Security Cooperation

SCO considers terrorism, separatism and extremism as its main threats. In 2004, RATS was established in Tashkent.

Joint military exercises have taken place among SCO member states.
In 2007, CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) in Dushanbe was established in order to broaden co-operation in security, crime and drug trafficking.

Economic Cooperation:

A Framework Agreement to enhance economic cooperation was signed by the SCO member states on 23 September 2003. At the same meeting the PRC's Premier, Wen Jiabao, proposed a long-term objective to establish a free trade area in the SCO.

In 2009, China announced plans to provide a US$10 billion loan to SCO member states to shore up the struggling economies of its members amid the global financial crisis

SCO member states are also planning to set up an energy club.

Cultural Cooperation:

An SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was held for the first time during the Astana Summit in 2005.

Importance:
The SCO’s six full members account for 60 percent of the land mass of Eurasia and its population is a third of the world, while with its affiliates, the SCO accounts for half of the human race. Its members posses 17.5% ofwooil reserves, 47.5% of world natural gas reserves and 45% of world’s population.

Pakistan’s avidly seeks membership in SCO:

Pakistan has been on observer status for the last four years. Pakistan seeks full membership in SCO to strengthen the country’s engagement with the organisation for promoting peace and development in the region. In December 2009, in a meeting with Secretary General of SCO, President Asif Ali Zardari said in the wake of the militancy and extremism, it was imperative that Pakistan, which has an observer status in the organisation since 2005, be given full membership.

The president also said by making counter-terrorism its priority, the SCO had assumed a greater responsibility in enhancing regional security and it would be greatly beneficial if the SCO member and observer states shared intelligence and experiences on counter-terrorism.

He said Pakistan was keen to be associated with the SCO’s regional counter-terrorism structure based in Tashkent. The president said the SCO, with a combined GDP of $4.5 trillion, could play an important role in promoting regional trade and economic cooperation.


Compiled from the internet and the above article