India hosts 23rd SCO summit in New Delhi for the year 2023.
What is Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)?
It is a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organization established in 2001.
It is basically an extension of the Shanghai Five Group (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan) that was created in 1996.
At a historic summit in Astana, Kazakhstan (2017) India and Pakistan become full-fledged members of SCO.
India’s decision to become a full member of the SCO is in line with its current policy of multi-alignment and maintaining its strategic autonomy.
Headquarters-Beijing(China)
Since its inception, the SCO has mainly focused on
Regional security issues
Regional terrorism
Ethnic separatism
Religious extremism
Regional development
Member Countries- 9 members- Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, and Iran (latest member).
Significance- The SCO is the world’s largest regional organisation consisting of 40% of the world’s population and 30% of global gross domestic product (GDP).
The SCO has been an observer in the UN General Assembly since 2005.
What is the 23rd SCO Summit about?
The 23rd SCO meeting of the council of heads of the member states was held virtually.
This is the first time India holds the presidency of the SCO summit.
Theme - SECURE- Security, Economic development, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection.
India has created 5 new pillars and focus areas of cooperation in SCO –
Startups and Innovation
Traditional Medicine
Digital Inclusion
Youth Empowerment
Shared Buddhist Heritage
24th SCO chair is Kazakhstan and the summit is to take place in Astana.
What are the key takeaways from the 23rd SCO Summit?
New Entrant- Iran now become the full member of SCO which would help in achieving collective security and sustainable development.
New Delhi Declaration- It deals extensively with challenge of terrorism, extremism and separatism and calls for country cooperation.
It reaffirms its commitment to disrupt the terror financing channels, to suppress recruitment activities and cross-border movement of terrorists.
India’s new Initiatives- To foster the engagement with member countries India launched new initiatives like
SCO Millet Food Festival,
Film Festival,
SCO Surajkund Craft Mela,
International Conference on Shared Buddhist Heritage etc.,
De-Dollarization- Countries spoke about the reducing the dominance of dollar in global markets.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - India refused to accept BRI as it is essential to “respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of member countries of the SCO.
Issue of Afghanistan- India urged SCO members to come together to extend humanitarian assistance to Afghan citizens.
Inclusion of English- India wants the inclusion of English as an official language besides Russian and Chinese to help disseminate SCO’s views to a wider audience.
Joint statements-Joint statements were released on
Cooperation in countering the radicalisation leading to separatism, extremism and terrorism
Cooperation in the field of digital transformation
What is the significance of India’s Chairmanship in the SCO?
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - India reiterated its motto “The Whole World is a Family”, its ultimate goal is global peace and security.
New Delhi declaration- It pays special attention to religious intolerance, aggressive nationalism, ethnic and racial discrimination etc.,
This would keep check on terrorism activities by Pakistan.
Soft power- Varanasi is designated as the first tourism and cultural capital of the SCO.
Strategic autonomy-India refused to accept china’s BRI and SCOEconomic Development Strategy.
Geopolitical advantage- With Iran as a full member SCO India can deepen its relation and Russia would moderate the stance with China, this would promote regional peace and security.
It promotes political settlement of international and regional hotspot issues, and build a solid barrier for regional security.
