SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO) – INTERNATIONAL
News:
Saudi Arabia agrees to
join SCO as a dialogue partner
What's
in the news?
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Saudi Arabia has agreed to join the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a "dialogue partner", the
latest indication of closer political ties with China.
Key
takeaways:
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The SCO is a political and security union
of countries spanning much of Eurasia, including China, India, and Russia.
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The move would grant Riyadh "the
status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization".
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Iran also signed documents for full
membership last year.
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Other countries with either observer or
dialogue partner status include Egypt, Iran and Qatar.
SCO:
●
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental
international organization.
●
Nine
countries enjoy the status of the SCO full members - India,
Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan.
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Observer
status - Egypt, Qatar, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia.
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Partner
status - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and
Sri Lanka.
Shanghai
Five:
●
Before the creation of SCO in 2001,
Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the
Shanghai Five.
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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.
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It was after the accession of Uzbekistan
to the organization in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
Goals
of the SCO:
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Strengthening mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among the member
countries.
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Promoting
effective cooperation in politics, trade and economy, science
and technology, culture as well as education, energy, transportation, tourism,
environmental protection and other fields.
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Making joint efforts to maintain and
ensure peace, security and stability in
the region, moving towards the establishment of a new, democratic, just and
rational political and economic international order.
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SCO pursues its internal policy based on
the principles of mutual trust, mutual
benefit, equal rights, consultations, respect for the diversity of cultures and
aspiration towards common development.
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SCO pursues its external policy which is
conducted in accordance with the principles of non-alignment, non-targeting of
anyone and openness.
Organizational
structure of the SCO:
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The Heads
of State Council (HSC) is the highest decision-making body in the SCO.
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It meets
once every year to make decisions and give instructions on all important
issues regarding SCO activity.
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The Heads of Government Council (HGC)
meets once per year to discuss a strategy for multilateral cooperation and
priority directions within the Organization’s framework, to solve important and
pressing cooperation issues in economic and other areas, as well as to adopt
the Organization’s annual budget.
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The Council of National Coordinators of
SCO Member States (CNC) is in charge of coordinating interaction within the SCO
framework.
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The Organization has two permanent bodies - the Secretariat in Beijing (China) and
the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
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Russian and Chinese are the official
working languages of the SCO.
SCO
RATS:
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It was established to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.
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The Executive Committee of the Regional
Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
is the permanent body of the SCO RATS based in Tashkent, the capital of
Uzbekistan.
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The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure
operates in accordance with the SCO Charter, the Shanghai Convention on
Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism, the Agreement among the SCO
member states on the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, as well as documents
and decisions adopted in the SCO framework.
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In May, counter-terror officials of
Pakistan, Russia, China and four Central Asian countries met in Delhi under the
structure as India assumed its role as Chairperson of the SCO-RATS mechanism in
October 2021.