PRASHANT.DHAWAN.79

BACKGROUND

What started off as the “Shanghai 5” in 1996 for

security and border peace between Kazakhstan,

Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia and Tajikistan has

metamorphosed into the Shanghai Cooperation

Organization (SCO)

15 June 2001 - Uzbekistan

2017 – India - Pakistan

OBSERVER STATES

•Afghanistan

• Belarus

• Iran

• Mongolia

ACTIVITIES•Cooperation on security

•The SCO is primarily cantered on its member nations'

Central Asian security-related concerns, often describing

the main threats it confronts as being terrorism,

separatism and extremism.

RATS

At 16–17 June 2004 SCO summit, held in Tashkent,

Uzbekistan, the Regional Antiterrorism Structure

(RATS) was established.

On 21 April 2006, the SCO announced plans to

fight cross-border drug crimes under the counter-

terrorism rubric.

NO PLANS TO BECOME A MILITARY BLOC

Russia claimed in April 2006 that the SCO has

no plans to become a military bloc.

The Diplomat reported in 2017 that SCO has

foiled 600 terror plots and extradited 500

terrorists through RATS.

NOTES

•On 16 June 2009, at the Yekaterinburg Summit, 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.

• The summit was held together with the first BRIC summit,

and the China-Russia joint statement said that they want a

bigger quota in the International Monetary Fund

NATURAL RESOURCES IN CENTRAL ASIA

•Uzbekistan has a major gas field at Gazli in the

Kyzylkum Desert southeast of the Aral Sea and oil fields

in the southeastern part of the country.

•Reserves of uranium ore are found in Asia’s ancient

crystalline rocks. The richest ore fields are found in

Kyrgyzstan, between Osh and Tuya Muyun.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Qingdao declaration

In the joint Qingdao Declaration of the Council of

Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation, India was the only member in the

eight-nation bloc to refuse to endorse Chinese

president Xi Jinping’s pet One Belt, One Road

(OBOR) project.

COMBAT TERRORISM, SEPARATISM AND EXTREMISM

SCO participating leaders also adopted total of 17

documents at the summit, which particularly include

documents endorsing 2018-2022 Action Plan to

implement Treaty for Long-term Good-Neighborly

Relations, Friendship and Cooperation between SCO

states and 2019-2020 Program for Cooperation in

countering terrorism, separatism and extremism

OTHER ASPECTS

They also signed decision to approve 2018-2023 Anti-Drug

Strategy and Action Plan to implement it. Besides, leaders of all

SCO countries also signed an information statement.

SECURE:

S’ for security for citizens, ‘E’ for economic

development, ‘C’ for connectivity in the region,

‘U’ for unity, ‘R’ for respect of sovereignty and

integrity, and ‘E for environment protection.