Will Iran & Belarus Join SCO Soon? – Free PDF Download

Question

Which of the below countries is a member of Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO)?

1. India
2. Pakistan
3. Afghanistan
4. China
5. Russia
6. Turkmenistan

Select the correct answer from the code given below:

1. a) 1, 2, 3, 4 only
2. b) 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 only
3. c) 1, 2, 4, 5 only
4. d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

The News

About SCO

• SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.
• It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
• It was created in 2001. The SCO Charter was signed in 2002, and entered into force in 2003.
• The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

About SCO

• The SCO covers 40%of the global population, nearly 20% of the global GDP and 22% of the world’s land mass.
• The SCO has a strategically important role in Asia due to its geographical significance – this enables it to control the Central Asia and limit the American influence in region.
• SCO is generally seen as counterweight to the North NATO

From Shanghai-5 to SCO

• Before to the creation of SCO in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five.
• Shanghai Five (1996) emerged from a series of border demarcation and demilitarization talks which the four former Soviet republics held with China to ensure stability along the borders.
• In 2001, Uzbekistan was added to the grouping, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
• India and Pakistan became members in 2017.

From Shanghai-5 to SCO

• Structure of the SCO
  • Heads of State Council
    • Deals Internal functioning and international relations
  • Heads of Government Council
    • Deals with Budget & other economic interactions
  • Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs
    • Deals with Day-to-day activities.
  • Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS)
    • Combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.
  • SCO Secretariat
    • In Beijing, its main job is to provide informational, analytical & organisational support.

Case for Iran Membership

• Iran’s membership is final. The decision to admit Iran was made in 2021 Dushanbe summit.
• Iran was an observer in the SCO since 2005.
• Iran had applied for full membership to SCO in 2008 and again in 2010 but both the times it had been unsuccessfully.
• Finally in 2021, things changed for Iran and it has accepted multilateralism.

Case for Belarus Membersihp

Samarkhand Summit 2022

What does this mean?

FYI

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