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{{Infobox Geopolitical organization
{{Short description|Eurasian multilateral security organization}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2015}}
|native_name = 上海合作组织 <br/> Шанхайская организация сотрудничества <br/>
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
|name = Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
{{Infobox organization
|linking_name = the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
|symbol_type = Logo
| name = Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
| native name = {{lang-zh|s=上海合作组织}}<br />{{langx|ru|Шанхайская Организация Сотрудничества}}
|image_symbol = SCO logo.svg
|symbol_width = 165px
| image =
|image_map = SCO Taiwan Map.png
| caption =
| logo = SCO logo.svg
|map_caption = <div style="text-align:left; font-size:110%; padding:0 1em 0;">{{legend|#008000|Member states}} {{legend|#3BC03B|Observer states}} {{legend|#7BC485|Taiwan {{Ref num|Taiwan|1|}}}}</div>
|membership = 6 member states<br/>4 observer states
| logo_size =
| map = Map of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.png
|admin_center_type = Secretariat
|admin_center = [[Beijing]], [[People's Republic of China|China (PRC)]]
| msize =
| map_caption = {{legend2|#1b7837|Members}} {{legend2|#33a02c|Observers}} {{legend2|#ffff33|Dialogue partners}}
|languages_type = [[Working language]]s
| abbreviation = SCO
|languages = [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Russian language|Russian]]
|leader_title1 = Secretary General
| motto =
|leader_name1 = [[Bolat Nurgaliyev]]
| predecessor = Shanghai Five
|leader_title2 = Deputy Secretary General
| formation = {{start date and age|2001|06|15|df=yes}}
|leader_name2 = [[Vladimir Zakharov]]
| extinction =
|established = 15 June 2001
| type = Mutual security, political, and economic cooperation
| status = Regional cooperation forum<ref>{{cite web |author1=Lars Erslev Andersen |title=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |date=4 November 2022 |url=https://www.diis.dk/en/research/shanghai-cooperation-organisation#:~:text=The%20Shanghai%20Cooperation%20Organisation%20has%20been%20described%20in,forum%20for%20cooperation%20that%20includes%20security%20policy%20issues. |publisher=Danish Institute for International Studies |access-date=4 November 2022 |quote=However, it is not an alliance but rather a forum for cooperation that includes security policy issues.}}</ref>
|official_website = [http://www.sectsco.org/ www.sectsco.org]
| purpose =
|footnote1 = {{note|Taiwan}} The [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC) claims, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation recognises, [[Taiwan]] as part of PRC's territory. However, the island is subject to the jurisdiction of the [[Republic of China]] (ROC). (Ref. [[Political status of Taiwan]])
| headquarters = [[Beijing]], China (Secretariat)<br />[[Tashkent]], Uzbekistan (RATS Executive Committee)
| location =
| membership = {{ubl
|{{flag|Belarus}}
|{{flag|China}}
|{{flag|India}}
|{{flag|Iran}}
|{{flag|Kazakhstan}}
|{{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
|{{flag|Pakistan}}
|{{flag|Russia}}
|{{flag|Tajikistan}}
|{{flag|Uzbekistan}}
}}
}}
'''Observers:'''
The '''Shanghai Cooperation Organisation''' ('''SCO''') is an [[intergovernmental]] mutual-security organization which was founded in 2001 by the leaders of [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Russia]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Uzbekistan]]. 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 organization.
{{ubl


|{{nowrap|{{flag|Afghanistan|2013}}}} (Inactive since September 2021)
==Official names==
The official [[working language]]s of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Russian language|Russian]]. The official names of the organisation in the two languages, abbreviations in parentheses, are:


|{{flag|Mongolia}}
'''[[Chinese language|Chinese]]:'''
}}
* [[Simplified Chinese character|Simplified Chinese]]: 上海合作组织 [ {{Audio|Chinese-Shanghai Cooperation Organization.ogg |Listen}} ] (上合组织)
'''Dialogue partners:'''<!-- IMPORTANT NOTE: On September 17th 2021, the SCO members have agreed to let Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia obtain the dialogue partner status. However, these countries are not de jure dialogue partners yet, as they haven't yet signed memorandums with the SCO Secretary General that would officially grant them this status. Historically, such memorandums were signed within 2.5 to 11 months from the SCO members' decision. Until these memorandums are signed, we shouldn't list these countries as dialogue partners. See the official list of dialogue partners at the SCO website: http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/ -->
* [[Pinyin|Romanization]]: Shànghǎi Hézuò Zǔzhī (Shàng Hé Zǔzhī)
{{ubl
* [[Cyrillization of Chinese from Pinyin|Cyrillization]]: Шанхай Хэцзо Цзучжи (Шанхэ Цзучжи)
|{{flag|Armenia}}
|{{flag|Azerbaijan}}
|{{flag|Bahrain}}
|{{flag|Cambodia}}
|{{flag|Egypt}}
|{{flag|Kuwait}}
|{{flag|Maldives}}
|{{flag|Myanmar}}
|{{flag|Nepal}}
|{{flag|Qatar}}
|{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
|{{flag|Sri Lanka}}
|{{flag|Turkey}}
|{{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
}}
'''Guest attendees:'''
{{ubl
|{{flag|ASEAN}}
|{{flag|CIS}}
|{{flag|Turkmenistan}}
|{{flag|UN}}
}}
| language = {{hlist|[[Standard Chinese|Chinese]]|[[Russian language|Russian]]<ref name="about-sco" />}}
| leader_title = Secretary-General
| leader_name = [[Zhang Ming]]
| leader_title2 = Deputy Secretaries-General
| leader_name2 = {{ubl|Shukhrat Sobirzoda|Sohail Khan|Shri Janesh Kain|Nuran Niyazaliyev|[[Nurlan Yermekbayev]]|Oleg Kopylov}}
| leader_title3 = RATS<br />Executive Committee Director
| leader_name3 = Ruslan Mirzaev
| main_organ =
| parent_organization =
| affiliations =
| budget =
| staff =
| staff_year =
| volunteers =
| volunteers_year =
| website = {{official URL}}
| remarks =
}}


The '''Shanghai Cooperation Organisation''' ('''SCO''') is a [[Eurasia]]n [[politics|political]], [[economy|economic]], [[international security]] and [[Defence (military)|defence]] organization established by China and Russia in 2001. It is the world's largest [[regional organization]] in terms of [[geography|geographic scope]] and [[world population|population]], covering approximately 24% of the area of world (65% of Eurasia)<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13567888.2018.1495424 | doi=10.1080/13567888.2018.1495424 | title=The evolution of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation | journal=Strategic Comments | date=2018 | volume=24 | issue=5 | pages=vii-ix | s2cid=219696506 }}</ref> and 42% of the world population. As of 2024, its combined nominal [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] accounts for around 23%, while its [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] based on [[Purchasing power parity|PPP]] comprises approximately 36% of the world's total.
'''[[Russian language|Russian]]:'''
* [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]]: Шанхайская организация сотрудничества (ШОС)
* [[Romanization of Russian|Romanization]]: Shankhayskaya organizatsiya sotrudnichestva (ShOS)


The SCO is the successor to the '''Shanghai Five''', formed in 1996 between the [[China|People's Republic of China]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Russia]], and [[Tajikistan]].<ref name=":1" /> In June 2001, the leaders of these nations and [[Uzbekistan]] met in [[Shanghai]] to announce a new organization with deeper political and economic cooperation. In June 2017, it expanded to eight states, with [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. [[Iran]] joined the group in July 2023, and [[Belarus]] in July 2024. Several countries are engaged as observers or dialogue partners.
==Membership==

[[Image:SCO Map.png|thumb|{{legend|#000080|Member states}} {{legend|#0000CC|Observer states}} {{legend|#0000FF|Guest Attendances (not members)}}]]
The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year. The organization also contains the [[Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure]] (RATS).
<div align="left">
{{columns|width=300px
|col1 =
'''Members'''
*{{flag|China}}
*{{flag|Kazakhstan}}
*{{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
*{{flag|Russia}}
*{{flag|Tajikistan}}
*{{flag|Uzbekistan}}
|col2 =
'''Observers'''
*{{flag|India}}
*{{flag|Iran}}
*{{flag|Mongolia}}
*{{flag|Pakistan}}
|col3 =
'''Guest Attendances'''
*{{Flag|Afghanistan}}
*{{Flag|ASEAN}}
*{{Flag|CIS}}
}}
</div>


==Origins==
==Origins==
[[Image:Shanghai Five Leaders.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]], Kazakh President [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]], Chinese President [[Jiang Zemin]], Kyrgyz President [[Askar Akayev]], and Tajik President [[Emomali Rakhmonov]], the original leaders of the Shanghai Five.]]
The Shanghai Five grouping was originally created April 26, 1996 with the signing of the ''Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions'' in [[Shanghai]] by the heads of states of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. April 24, 1997 the same countries signed the ''Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions'' in a meeting in [[Moscow]].


=== The Shanghai Five ===
Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group occurred in [[Almaty]] (Kazakhstan) in 1998, in [[Bishkek]] (Kyrgyzstan) in 1999, and in [[Dushanbe]] (Tajikistan) in 2000.
The Shanghai Five group was created on 26 April 1996 when the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in [[Shanghai]].<ref name="cfr">{{Cite web |last=Albert |first=Eleanor |date=14 October 2015 |title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organization |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/shanghai-cooperation-organization |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016032848/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/shanghai-cooperation-organization |archive-date=16 October 2018 |access-date=15 October 2018 |website=Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref>


On 24 April 1997 the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in [[Moscow]], Russia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Al-Qahtani|first=Mutlaq|title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Law of International Organizations|journal=Chinese Journal of International Law|year=2006|volume=5|issue=1|page=130|publisher=Oxford University Press|issn=1540-1650|doi=10.1093/chinesejil/jml012}}</ref> On 20 May 1997 Russian President [[Boris Yeltsin]] and Chinese President [[Jiang Zemin]] signed a declaration on a "[[Polarity (international relations)|multipolar world]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/52/plenary/a52-153.htm|title=Russian-Chinese Joint Declaration on a Multipolar World and the Establishment of a New International Order|website=United Nations General Assembly|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623154322/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/52/plenary/a52-153.htm|archive-date=23 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2001, the annual summit returned to [[Shanghai]], [[China]]. There the five member nations first admitted [[Uzbekistan]] in the Shanghai Five mechanism (thus transforming it into the Shanghai Six). Then all six heads of state signed on June 15, 2001, the ''Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation'', praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation. In July 2001, Russia and the PRC, the organisation's two leading nations, signed the [[Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation|Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation]].


Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group occurred in [[Almaty]], Kazakhstan in 1998, in [[Bishkek]], Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and in [[Dushanbe]], Tajikistan in 2000. At the Dushanbe summit, members agreed to "oppose intervention in other countries' internal affairs on the reason of 'humanitarianism' and 'protecting human rights;' and support the efforts of one another in safeguarding the five countries' national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and social stability."<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last1=Gill |first1=Bates |date=30 November 2001 |title=Shanghai Five: An Attempt to Counter U.S. Influence in Asia? |url=http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2001/05/04china-gill |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503173641/http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2001/05/04china-gill |archive-date=3 May 2015 |access-date=26 April 2015 |publisher=Brookings}}</ref> The Shanghai Five structure helped speed up the members' resolution of border disputes, agree on military deployments in border areas, and address security threats.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Proń |first=Elżbieta |url= |title=China and Eurasian Powers in a Multipolar World Order 2.0: Security, Diplomacy, Economy and Cyberspace |date=2023 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |others=Mher Sahakyan |isbn=978-1-003-35258-7 |edition= |location=New York |chapter=China in Central Asia: New Developments in 2013-2021 |doi=10.4324/9781003352587-11 |oclc=1353290533}}</ref>{{Rp|page=95}}
In June 2002, the heads of the SCO member states met in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia. There they signed the SCO Charter which expounded on the organisation's purposes, principles, structures and form of operation, and established it officially from the point of view of international law.


=== Developing institutional forms ===
==Structure==
[[Image:Structure of the SCO.jpg|thumb|right|450px|Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation]]
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. The current Council of Heads of State consists of:


In 2001, the annual summit returned to Shanghai and the group was institutionalized.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}} The five member nations first admitted [[Uzbekistan]] in the Shanghai Five mechanism.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}} On 15 June 2001, all six heads of state signed the ''Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation'', praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation.<ref name="about-sco" /> From 2001 to 2008, the SCO developed rapidly, establishing a number of permanent bodies and ''ad hoc'' initiatives dealing with economic and security matters.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}}
* [[Kurmanbek Bakiyev]] (Kyrgyzstan)
* [[Hu Jintao]] (People's Republic of China)
* [[Islom Karimov]] (Uzbekistan)
* [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] (Kazakhstan)
* [[Dmitry Medvedev]] (Russia)
* [[Emomalii Rahmon]] (Tajikistan)


In June 2002, the heads of the SCO member states met in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia and signed the ''SCO Charter'' which expounded on the organisation's purposes, principles, structures and forms of operation. It entered into force on 19 September 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |url=http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/20170109/190857.html |publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat. |access-date=5 July 2023 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705162001/http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/20170109/190857.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organization. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation. The council also approves the organization's budget.


In July 2005, at the summit in [[Astana]], Kazakhstan, with representatives of India, Iran, [[Mongolia]] and Pakistan attending an SCO summit for the first time, [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]], the president of the Kazakhstan, greeted the guests in words that had never been used before in any context: "The leaders of the states sitting at this negotiation table are representatives of half of humanity".<ref>Kazinform, 5 July 2005.</ref>
The council of Foreign Ministers also hold regular meetings, where they discuss the current international situation and the SCO's interaction with other international organizations.<ref>[http://www.malaysia.mid.ru/press2007/e_22.html Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers from Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization] Embassy of the Russian Federation in Malaysia</ref>


By 2007, the SCO had initiated over twenty large-scale projects related to transportation, energy and telecommunications and held regular meetings of security, military, defence, foreign affairs, economic, cultural, banking, and other officials from its member states.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Agostinis|first1=Giovanni|last2=Urdinez|first2=Francisco|date=20 October 2021|title=The Nexus between Authoritarian and Environmental Regionalism: An Analysis of China's Driving Role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2021.1974887|journal=Problems of Post-Communism|volume=69 |issue=4–5 |pages=330–344|doi=10.1080/10758216.2021.1974887|s2cid=239486136|issn=1075-8216|hdl=11585/909383|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
As the name suggests, the Council of National Coordinators coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO's charter.


In July 2015, in [[Ufa]], Russia, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. In June 2016 in [[Tashkent]], both signed the memorandum of obligations, thereby starting the process of joining the SCO.<ref name=IndPakMemo>{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1129533/india-pakistan-edge-closer-joining-sco-security-bloc/|title=India, Pakistan edge closer to joining SCO security bloc|date=24 June 2016|access-date=24 June 2016|agency=Agence France-Presse|via=[[The Express Tribune]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625124459/http://tribune.com.pk/story/1129533/india-pakistan-edge-closer-joining-sco-security-bloc/|archive-date=25 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2017, at a summit in Kazakhstan, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full members.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhattacherjee |first=Kallol |date=9 June 2017 |title=India, Pakistan become full members of SCO |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-pakistan-become-full-members-of-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco/article62067467.ece |access-date=11 April 2023 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan's Membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) – Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=9 June 2017 |url=https://mofa.gov.pk/pakistans-membership-of-the-shanghai-cooperation-organization-sco/ |access-date=11 April 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>
The Secretariat of the SCO is the primary executive body of the organization. It serves to implement organizational decisions and decrees, drafts proposed documents (such as declarations and agendas), function as a document depository for the organization, arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates information about the SCO. It is located in Beijing. The current SCO Secretary-General is [[Bolat Nurgaliyev]] of Kazakhstan.<ref>[http://www.sectsco.org/html/00037.html SCO Secretariat in Brief] SCO Website</ref>


In 2004, the SCO established relations with the [[United Nations]] (where it is an observer in the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]]), the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] in 2005, the [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations]] (ASEAN) in 2005, the [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]] in 2007, the [[Economic Cooperation Organization]] in 2007, the [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]] in 2011, the [[Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia]] (CICA) in 2014, and the [[United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific]] (ESCAP) in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eng.sectsco.org/cooperation/|title=External communication|publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605174306/http://eng.sectsco.org/cooperation/|archive-date=5 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> in 2018, SCO [[Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure]] (RATS) has established relations with the [[African Union]]'s African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofislamabad.com/12-Dec-2018/au-sco-anti-terror-organs-sign-cooperation-deal-on-fighting-terrorism|title=AU, SCO anti-terror organs sign cooperation deal on fighting terrorism|work=Times of Islamabad|access-date=16 December 2018|date=12 December 2018}}</ref>
The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), headquartered in [[Tashkent]], Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the [[three evils]] of [[terrorism]], [[separatism]] and [[extremism]]. The Head of RATS is elected to a three-year term. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.<ref>[http://www.sectsco.org/fk-03.html Information on Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of Shanghai Cooperation Organization] SCO Website</ref>


== Organisational structure ==
==Activities==
[[File:Structure of the SCO.png|center|550px]]

As of 2020, the Council of Heads of State was the top decision-making body in the SCO, meeting at the annual SCO summits in one of the member states' capital cities. Because of their government structure, the prime ministers of the parliamentary democracies of India and Pakistan attend the SCO Council of Heads of State summits, as their responsibilities are similar to the presidents of other SCO nations.<ref name="thehindu28nov20">{{cite news |last1=Haidar |first1=Suhasani |title=India to host SCO Heads of Government meet; Modi, Imran to skip |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/six-pms-to-attend-sco-heads-of-government-summit-hosted-by-india/article33201037.ece |website=The Hindu |publisher=THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. |access-date=15 June 2021 |date=28 November 2020}}</ref>

As of the 4 July 2023 meeting, the Council of Heads of State consists of:<ref>{{cite web |title=Regular SCO Heads of State Council Meeting |url=http://eng.sectsco.org/politics/20230704/948760/Regular-SCO-Heads-of-State-Council-Meeting.html |website=Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref>
* [[Xi Jinping]] (China)
* [[Narendra Modi]] (India)
* [[Aleksandr Lukashenko ]] (Belarus)
* [[ Masoud Pezeshkian ]] (Iran)
* [[Kassym-Jomart Tokayev]] (Kazakhstan)
* [[Sadyr Japarov]] (Kyrgyzstan)
* [[Shehbaz Sharif]] (Pakistan)
* [[Vladimir Putin]] (Russia)
* [[Emomali Rahmon]] (Tajikistan)
* [[Shavkat Mirziyoyev]] (Uzbekistan)

The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organisation. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation and approves the organisation's budget.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) |url=http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/20220810/909124.html |publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref> As of the 1 November 2022 meeting, Council of Heads of Government consists of:<ref>{{cite web |title=21st SCO Heads of Government Council meeting |url=http://eng.sectsco.org/economy/20221101/921909/21st-SCO-Heads-of-Government-Council-meeting-.html |publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref>
* [[Li Qiang]] (China)
* [[Narendra Modi]] (India) (usually sends a deputy, such as [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|EAM]] [[Subrahmanyam Jaishankar]] at the 2021 summit)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/eam-s-jaishankar-to-represent-india-at-sco-heads-of-govt-meeting-121112401424_1.html | title=EAM S Jaishankar to represent India at SCO heads of govt meeting | date=25 November 2021 }}</ref>
* [[Alihan Smaiylov]] (Kazakhstan)
* [[Akylbek Japarov]] (Kyrgyzstan)
* [[Shehbaz Sharif]] (Pakistan) (usually sends a deputy, such as Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs [[Andleeb Abbas]] at the 2020 summit)<ref name="thehindu28nov20" />
* [[Mikhail Mishustin]] (Russia)
* [[Kokhir Rasulzoda|Qohir Rasulzoda]] (Tajikistan)
* [[Abdulla Aripov]] (Uzbekistan)

As of 2007, the Council of Foreign Ministers also held regular meetings, where they discussed the current international situation and interaction with other international organisations.<ref>{{cite press release | url = http://www.malaysia.mid.ru/press2007/e_22.html | title = Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers from Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation | publisher = Embassy of the Russian Federation in Malaysia | location = Kuala Lumpur | date = 9 July 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120208154821/http://www.malaysia.mid.ru/press2007/e_22.html | archive-date = 8 February 2012}}</ref> As of 2021, the Council of National Coordinators coordinated the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO's charter.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan |title=The First SCO Council of National Coordinators Meeting Chaired by Tajikistan |url=https://mfa.tj/en/islamabad/view/7076/the-first-sco-council-of-national-coordinators-meeting-chaired-by-tajikistan |website=mfa.tj |publisher=Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan |access-date=15 June 2021 |date=29 January 2021}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="margin-left:1em; margin-top:0"
|+ Directors of SCO RATS Executive Committee
! Years in office !! Name
|-
| 15 June 2004 – 2006 || {{flagicon|Uzbekistan}} Vyacheslav Kasymov
|-
| 2007–2009 || {{flagicon|Kyrgyzstan}} [[Myrzakan Subanov]]
|-
| 2010–2012 || {{flagicon|Kazakhstan}} Dzhenisbek Dzhumanbekov
|-
| 2013–2015 || {{flagicon|China}} [[Zhang Xinfeng]]
|-
| 2016–2018 || {{flagicon|Russia}} Yevgeniy Sysoev
|-
| 2019–2021 || {{flagicon|Tajikistan}} Jumakhon Giyosov
|-
| 2022–present || {{flagicon|Uzbekistan}} Ruslan Mirzaev
|}

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="clear:none; margin-left:1em"
|+ Heads of SCO Secretariat
! Years in office !! Name
|-
| colspan=2 | '''Executive Secretary'''
|-
| 15 January 2004 – 2006 || {{flagicon|China}} [[Zhang Deguang]]
|-
| colspan=2 | '''Secretaries-General'''
|-
| 2007–2009 || {{flagicon|Kazakhstan}} [[Bolat Nurgaliyev]]
|-
| 2010–2012 || {{flagicon|Kyrgyzstan}} [[Muratbek Imanaliyev]]
|-
| 2013–2015 || {{flagicon|Russia}} [[Dmitry Mezentsev]]
|-
| 2016–2018 || {{flagicon|Tajikistan}} [[Rashid Alimov]]
|-
| 2019–2021|| {{flagicon|Uzbekistan}} [[Vladimir Norov]]
|-
| 2022–present|| {{flagicon|China}} [[Zhang Ming]]
|}

The Secretariat of the SCO, headquartered in [[Beijing]], China, is the primary executive body of the organisation. It serves to implement organisational decisions and decrees, drafts proposed documents (such as declarations and agendas), function as a document depository for the organisation, arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates information about the SCO. The SCO Secretary-General is elected to a three-year term.<ref name="FreshMCQs">{{Cite web |title=Who is the current Secretary General SCO? |url=https://freshmcqs.com/secretary-general-sco/ |access-date=28 July 2023 |website=Fresh MCQs|date=11 December 2022 }}</ref> Zhang Ming of China became the current Secretary-General on 1 January 2022.<ref name="FreshMCQs"/>

The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee, headquartered in [[Tashkent]], Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the [[three evils]] of [[terrorism]], [[separatism]] and [[extremism]]. The Director of SCO RATS Executive Committee is elected to a three-year term. Ruslan Mirzaev of Uzbekistan became the current Director on 1 January 2022. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sectsco.org/fk-03.html | title = Information on Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation | publisher = Shanghai Cooperation Organisation | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081211154326/http://www.sectsco.org/fk-03.html | archive-date = 11 December 2008}}</ref>

The official languages of the SCO are [[Standard Chinese|Chinese]] and [[Russian language|Russian]].<ref name="about-sco"/>

== Membership ==
{{Main|Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation}}
{{Horizontal timeline
|from=1994
|to=2025
|inc=1
|axis-nudge=-0.5em
|axis-1994=&nbsp;
|axis-marker-1994=&nbsp;
|axis-1995=&nbsp;
|axis-marker-1995=&nbsp;

|styleDefault-fontsize=0.8em
|styleDefault-height=1em
|styleDefault-borderbottom=2px solid transparent
|styleDefault-1-border=none;text-align:right
|styleDefault-1-texttop=-0.1em;right:0.4em;
|styleDefault-2-border=none;
|styleDefault-3-border=none;
|styleDefault-4-border=none;

|styleMemberShanghaiFive-boxcolour=#CCCCCC
|styleMember-boxcolour=#346733
|styleObserver-boxcolour=#00FF00
|styleDialoguePartner-boxcolour=#FFFF00

|row1=note
|row1-1-at=1996.32
|row1-1-text=Establishment of S5

|row1-2-at=2001.45
|row1-2-text=Establishment of SCO

|row2=timeline
|row2-style=styleDefault
|row2-1-text=China
|row2-1-to=1996.32
|row2-2-to=2001.45
|row2-2-style=styleMemberShanghaiFive
|row2-3-to=2025
|row2-3-style=styleMember

|row3=timeline
|row3-style=styleDefault
|row3-1-text=Kazakhstan
|row3-1-to=1996.32
|row3-2-to=2001.45
|row3-2-style=styleMemberShanghaiFive
|row3-3-to=2025
|row3-3-style=styleMember

|row4=timeline
|row4-style=styleDefault
|row4-1-text=Kyrgyzstan
|row4-1-to=1996.32
|row4-2-to=2001.45
|row4-2-style=styleMemberShanghaiFive
|row4-3-to=2025
|row4-3-style=styleMember

|row5=timeline
|row5-style=styleDefault
|row5-1-text=Russia
|row5-1-to=1996.32
|row5-2-to=2001.45
|row5-2-style=styleMemberShanghaiFive
|row5-3-to=2025
|row5-3-style=styleMember

|row6=timeline
|row6-style=styleDefault
|row6-1-text=Tajikistan
|row6-1-to=1996.32
|row6-2-to=2001.45
|row6-2-style=styleMemberShanghaiFive
|row6-3-to=2025
|row6-3-style=styleMember

|row7=timeline
|row7-style=styleDefault
|row7-1-text=Uzbekistan
|row7-1-to=2001.45
|row7-2-to=2025
|row7-2-style=styleMember

|row8=timeline
|row8-style=styleDefault
|row8-1-text=India
|row8-1-to=2005.51
|row8-2-to=2017.44
|row8-2-style=styleObserver
|row8-3-to=2025
|row8-3-style=styleMember

|row9=timeline
|row9-style=styleDefault
|row9-1-text=Pakistan
|row9-1-to=2005.51
|row9-2-to=2017.44
|row9-2-style=styleObserver
|row9-3-to=2025
|row9-3-style=styleMember

|row10=timeline
|row10-style=styleDefault
|row10-1-text=Iran
|row10-1-to=2005.51
|row10-2-to=2023.6
|row10-2-style=styleObserver
|row10-3-to=2025
|row10-3-style=styleMember

|row11=timeline
|row11-style=styleDefault
|row11-1-text=Belarus
|row11-1-to=2010.32
|row11-2-to=2015.52
|row11-2-style=styleDialoguePartner
|row11-3-to=2024.51
|row11-3-style=styleObserver
|row11-4-to=2025
|row11-4-style=styleMember

|row12=timeline
|row12-style=styleDefault
|row12-1-text=Mongolia
|row12-1-to=2004.54
|row12-2-to=2025
|row12-2-style=styleObserver

|row13=timeline
|row13-style=styleDefault
|row13-1-text=Sri Lanka
|row13-1-to=2010.35
|row13-2-to=2025
|row13-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row14=timeline
|row14-style=styleDefault
|row14-1-text=Turkey
|row14-1-to=2013.32
|row14-2-to=2025
|row14-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row15=timeline
|row15-style=styleDefault
|row15-1-text=Cambodia
|row15-1-to=2015.73
|row15-2-to=2025
|row15-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row16=timeline
|row16-style=styleDefault
|row16-1-text=Azerbaijan
|row16-1-to=2016.20
|row16-2-to=2025
|row16-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row17=timeline
|row17-style=styleDefault
|row17-1-text=Nepal
|row17-1-to=2016.22
|row17-2-to=2025
|row17-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row18=timeline
|row18-style=styleDefault
|row18-1-text=Armenia
|row18-1-to=2016.29
|row18-2-to=2025
|row18-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row19=timeline
|row19-style=styleDefault
|row19-1-text=Egypt
|row19-1-to=2022.70
|row19-2-to=2025
|row19-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row20=timeline
|row20-style=styleDefault
|row20-1-text=Qatar
|row20-1-to=2022.70
|row20-2-to=2025
|row20-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row21=timeline
|row21-style=styleDefault
|row21-1-text=Saudi Arabia
|row21-1-to=2022.70
|row21-2-to=2025
|row21-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row22=timeline
|row22-style=styleDefault
|row22-1-text=Kuwait
|row22-1-to=2023.40
|row22-2-to=2025
|row22-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row23=timeline
|row23-style=styleDefault
|row23-1-text=Maldives
|row23-1-to=2023.40
|row23-2-to=2025
|row23-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row24=timeline
|row24-style=styleDefault
|row24-1-text=Myanmar
|row24-1-to=2023.40
|row24-2-to=2025
|row24-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row25=timeline
|row25-style=styleDefault
|row25-1-text=UAE
|row25-1-to=2023.40
|row25-2-to=2025
|row25-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row26=timeline
|row26-style=styleDefault
|row26-1-text=Bahrain
|row26-1-to=2023.55
|row26-2-to=2025
|row26-2-style=styleDialoguePartner

|row27=timeline
|row27-style=styleDefault
|row27-1-text=Afghanistan (Islamic Republic)
|row27-1-to=2012.43
|row27-2-to=2021.62
|row27-2-style=styleObserver
|row27-3-to=2025
|row27-3-style=styleDefault

|row28=scale
|caption={{small|{{legend inline|#346733|Member}}{{quad}}{{legend inline|#00FF00|Observer}}{{quad}}{{legend inline|#FFFF00|Dialogue partner}}}}
}}

=== Member states ===
{{Supranational Asian Bodies|align=right|size=380px}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country !! Accession started !! Member since
|-
| {{flag|China}} || rowspan=6 | — || rowspan=6 | 15 June 2001{{efn|China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five mechanism since 26 April 1996. Uzbekistan was included in the Shanghai Five mechanism on 14 June 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kremlin.ru/supplement/3404 |script-title=ru:Совместное заявление глав государств Республики Казахстан, Китайской Народной Республики, Кыргызской Республики, Российской Федерации, Республики Таджикистан, Республики Узбекистан |trans-title=Joint statement of heads of state of Republic of Kazakhstan, People's Republic of China, Kyrgyz Republic, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Uzbekistan |date=14 June 2001 |website=President of Russia |language=Russian}}</ref> The six states then signed a declaration establishing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on 15 June 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/41570 |script-title=ru:Главы государств «Шанхайского форума» приняли Декларацию о создании нового объединения – Шанхайской организации сотрудничества |trans-title="Shanghai Forum" heads of state have adopted the Declaration on creation of a new association – the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |date=15 June 2001 |website=President of Russia |language=Russian}}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Kazakhstan}}
|-
| {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}}
|-
| {{flag|Russia}}
|-
| {{flag|Tajikistan}}
|-
| {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
|-
| {{flag|India}} || rowspan=2 | 10 June 2015 || rowspan=2 | 9 June 2017
|-
| {{flag|Pakistan}}
|-
|{{flag|Iran}}
|17 September 2021
|4 July 2023<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-04/iran-joins-sco-the-china-founded-regional-security-grouping|title=Iran Joins SCO, the China-Founded Regional Security Grouping|newspaper=Bloomberg |date=4 July 2023|via=www.bloomberg.com}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Belarus}}
|16 September 2022
| 4 July 2024<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.btimesonline.com/articles/167333/20240703/china-and-russia-lead-efforts-to-expand-influence-with-belarus-addition-to-sco.htm|title=China and Russia Lead Efforts to Expand Influence with Belarus' Addition to SCO|first=Larry|last=Lee|date=3 July 2024|website=Business Times}}</ref>
|}

=== Observer states ===
{| class=wikitable
! Country !! Status granted
|-
| {{flag|Mongolia}}
| 2004<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1332788951 |title=The dragon roars back : transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3415-2 |location=Stanford, California |pages=70 |oclc=1332788951}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|name=Afghanistan}}{{efn|Since the overthrow of the [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan]] and the reinstatement of the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]] on 15 August 2021, [[Taliban]] representatives have not been participating in SCO meetings.<ref name="Taliban">{{cite web |first=Eva |last=Seiwert |title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Will Not Fill Any Vacuum in Afghanistan |url=https://www.fpri.org/article/2021/09/the-shanghai-cooperation-organization-will-not-fill-any-vacuum-in-afghanistan/ |website=[[Foreign Policy Research Institute]] |access-date=24 July 2022 |date=30 September 2021 |quote=So far, the SCO has not officially recognized the Taliban regime and did not invite its representatives to the summit in Dushanbe in mid-September.}}</ref>}} || 7 June 2012<ref name="AFGTUR" /> (Inactive since September 2021)
|-
| colspan="2" | <br />'''Former observers'''
|-
| {{flag|India}} || rowspan=3 | 5 July 2005<ref name=":0" />
|-
| {{flag|Pakistan}}
|-
| {{flag|Iran}}
|-
| {{flag|Belarus}} || 2015<ref name=":0" />
|}

=== Dialogue partners ===
The status of dialogue partner was created in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sectsco.org/EN/show.asp?id=64 |title=Regulations on the Status of Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |date=28 August 2008 |publisher=The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |access-date=11 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214203708/http://www.sectsco.org/EN/show.asp?id=64 |archive-date=14 February 2012}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable
! Country !! Status approved !! Status granted{{efn|A country officially becomes a SCO dialogue partner after its minister of foreign affairs and SCO Secretary-General sign a memorandum granting the status.}}
|-
| {{flag|Sri Lanka}} || 15 or 16 June 2009<ref name="defence.lk">{{cite news |url=http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090618_05 |title=Sri Lanka gains partnership in SCO members welcome end to terror in country |date=30 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083026/http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090618_05 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |publisher=Ministry of Defence, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka}}</ref><ref name="IANS1">{{cite news |url=http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/jun/02/sri_lanka_turns_pakistan_china_military_needs.html |first=Rahul |last=Bedi |title=Sri Lanka turns to Pakistan, China for military needs |date=2 June 2007 |publisher=Urdustan.com Network |work=IANS |access-date=2 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604170848/http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/jun/02/sri_lanka_turns_pakistan_china_military_needs.html |archive-date=4 June 2007}}</ref> || 6 May 2010<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/250874 |title=Russian MFA Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko Response to Media Question about the Signing of a Memorandum Granting the Status of SCO Dialogue Partner to Sri Lanka |date=12 May 2010 |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia)}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Turkey}} || 7 June 2012<ref name="AFGTUR">{{cite news |url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/7839137.html |title=SCO accepts Afghanistan as observer, Turkey dialogue partner |agency=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |via=''People's Daily'' |date=7 June 2012 |access-date=7 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128073821/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/7839137.html |archive-date=28 November 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> || 26 April 2013<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-123_-26-april_-2013_-press-release-concerning-the-signing-of-a-memorandum-with-the-shanghai-cooperation-organization.en.mfa |title=No: 123, 26 April 2013, Press Release Concerning the Signing of a Memorandum with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization |date=26 April 2013 |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Turkey)}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Cambodia}} || rowspan=4 | 10 July 2015<ref>{{cite web|last=Kucera|first=Joshua|date=10 July 2015|title=SCO Summit Provides Few Concrete Results, But More Ambitious Goals|url=https://eurasianet.org/sco-summit-provides-few-concrete-results-but-more-ambitious-goals|access-date=16 October 2021|website=[[Eurasianet]]}}</ref>|| 24 September 2015<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tass.com/economy/823294 |title=Cambodia becomes dialogue partner in SCO |date=24 September 2015 |work=TASS}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Azerbaijan}} || 14 March 2016<ref>{{cite news |url=https://mfa.gov.az/en/news/xarici-isler-naziri-elmar-memmedyarov-cin-xalq-respublikasina-isguzar-seferi-cercivesinde-sanxay-emekdasliq-teskilatinin-bas-katibi-resid-alimov-ile-gorusub |title=Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Rashid Alimov, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization within his working visit to the People's Republic of China |date=14 March 2016 |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Azerbaijan)}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Nepal}} || 22 March 2016<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mofa.gov.np/press-release-issued-embassy-nepal-beijing/ |title=Press Release issued by Embassy of Nepal, Beijing on Nepal officially joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a dialogue partner. |date=22 March 2016 |publisher=Government of Nepal – Ministry of Foreign Affairs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804103547/https://mofa.gov.np/press-release-issued-embassy-nepal-beijing/ |archive-date=4 August 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=4 August 2018 |ref=44}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Armenia}} || 16 April 2016<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mfa.am/en/press-releases/2016/04/16/sco-dial-part/6038 |title=Armenia was granted a status of dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |date=16 April 2016 |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Armenia)}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Egypt}} || rowspan=3 | 16 September 2021 || rowspan=3 | 14 September 2022<ref>{{cite web |title=SCO member states signed memorandums on granting SCO dialogue partner status to the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar |url=http://eng.sectsco.org/politics/20220916/912890/SCO-member-states-signed-memorandums-on-granting-SCO-dialogue-partner-status-to-the-Arab-Republic.html |website=Shanghai Cooperation Organization |access-date=16 September 2022 |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929072943/http://eng.sectsco.org/politics/20220916/912890/SCO-member-states-signed-memorandums-on-granting-SCO-dialogue-partner-status-to-the-Arab-Republic.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Xi2022Meeting"/>
|-
| {{flag|Qatar}}
|-
| {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
|-
| {{flag|Kuwait}}|| rowspan=5 | 16 September 2022<ref name="Xi2022Meeting">{{cite web |title=President Xi Jinping Attends the 22nd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State and Delivers Important Remarks|url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx_662805/202209/t20220916_10767162.html |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC|access-date=16 September 2022}}</ref>|| rowspan="4" | 5 May 2023<ref name="New SCO dialogue partners">{{cite web|title=New SCO dialogue partners|url=http://eng.sectsco.org/politics/20230506/942021/-New-SCO-dialogue-partners.html|website=Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat|access-date=6 May 2023|archive-date=22 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522162243/http://eng.sectsco.org/politics/20230506/942021/-New-SCO-dialogue-partners.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Maldives}}
|-
| {{flag|Myanmar}}
|-
| {{nowrap|{{flag|United Arab Emirates}}}}
|-
| {{flag|Bahrain}} ||15 July 2023<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bna.bh/en/BahraingrantedthestatusofSCOdialoguepartner.aspx|title=Bahrain granted the status of SCO dialogue partner|website=www.bna.bh}}{{deadlink|date=July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://eng.sectsco.org/politics/20230718/951659/The-SCO-signs-a-memorandum-on-granting-the-Kingdom-of-Bahrain-the-status-of-dialogue-partner.html | title=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation &#124; SCO | access-date=23 August 2023 | archive-date=16 August 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816191931/http://eng.sectsco.org/politics/20230718/951659/The-SCO-signs-a-memorandum-on-granting-the-Kingdom-of-Bahrain-the-status-of-dialogue-partner.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
<!--
|-
| colspan=3 | '''Upcoming dialogue partners'''{{efn|These countries have not yet signed memorandums granting them the status of SCO dialogue partner, so they are not ''de jure'' dialogue partners yet. Historically, such memorandum has been signed within a year from an announcement that a country is approved as SCO dialogue partner.}}
-->
|-
| colspan=3 | <br />'''Former dialogue partners'''
|-
| {{flag|Belarus}} || 15 or 16 June 2009 || 28 April 2010
|}

=== Guest attendances ===
Multiple international organisations and one country are guest attendances to SCO summits.
* {{Flag|Association of Southeast Asian Nations}}
* {{Flag|Commonwealth of Independent States}}
* {{Flag|Turkmenistan}}
* {{Flag|United Nations}}

[[Turkmenistan]] has previously declared itself a permanently [[neutral country]], which was recognized by a resolution adopted by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] in 1995,<ref>{{UN doc |docid=A/RES/50/80 |body=A |session=90 |type=R |resolution_number=50/80 |title=Maintenance of international security |date=12 December 1995 |access-date=26 September 2024}}</ref> thus ostensibly precluding its membership in the SCO.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oneindia.com/feature/sco-summit-2018-why-turkmenistan-is-not-part-of-the-eurasia-security-bloc-2711428.html|title=SCO Summit 2018: Why Turkmenistan is not part of the Eurasia security bloc|last=Shubham|date=7 June 2018|website=oneindia.com|access-date=19 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220002956/https://www.oneindia.com/feature/sco-summit-2018-why-turkmenistan-is-not-part-of-the-eurasia-security-bloc-2711428.html|archive-date=20 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> At the same time, Turkmenistan is a member of the [[Economic Cooperation Organization]] since 1992 and an observer of the [[Organization of Turkic States]] since 2021. Turkmenistan's head of state has been attending SCO summits since 2007 as a guest attendee.

=== Future membership possibilities ===
{| class=wikitable
! Country !! Status applied for !! Date
|-
| {{flag|Bangladesh}}
| Observer
| 2012<ref name="AzeriDaily">{{cite web |url=http://azeridaily.com/politics/957 |title=Azerbaijan asks to join a new alliance of China and Russia |work=Azeri Daily |date=15 September 2012 |author=Moskovskij Komsomolets |access-date=22 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222201738/http://azeridaily.com/politics/957 |archive-date=22 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-21 |title=Why the Shanghai Cooperation Organization matters |url=https://arab.news/5c83v |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Syria}}
| Dialogue partner{{efn|Syria has initially applied for observer status, but "it was explained that first it is necessary to become a dialogue partner of the organization".<ref name="Interfax" />}}
| 2015<ref name="Interfax">{{cite news|date=23 June 2016 |url=http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=683491 |title=Syria, Israel, Egypt willing to join SCO's activity – president's special envoy |agency=[[Interfax]] |access-date=23 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816144553/http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=683491 |archive-date=16 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://tass.ru/en/world/806320|title=Egypt applies to become dialogue partner of Shanghai security bloc – Kremlin aide|date=6 July 2015|access-date=15 August 2015|agency=[[TASS]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820191812/http://tass.ru/en/world/806320|archive-date=20 August 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Israel}}
| Dialogue partner
| 2016<ref name="Interfax" />
|-
| {{flag|Iraq}}
| Dialogue partner
| 2019<ref>{{cite news |date=5 September 2019 |title='SCO family' widening? Many candidates share 'Shanghai spirit', but expansion not a goal |url=https://tass.com/world/1076750 |work=[[TASS]] |access-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906165359/https://tass.com/world/1076750 |archive-date=6 September 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Algeria}}
| Observer
| July 2023<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 June 2023 |title=Algeria Submits an Application to Join the SCO |work=Echorouk |url=https://www.echoroukonline.com/algeria-submits-an-application-to-join-the-sco}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=21 June 2023 |title=L'Algérie veut intégrer le capital de la banque des BRICS et l'organisation de Shanghai |work=L'Algérie Audjourd'hui |url=https://lalgerieaujourdhui.dz/lalgerie-veut-integrer-le-capital-de-la-banque-des-brics-et-lorganisation-de-shanghai/}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Laos}}
| Dialogue partner
| 2024<ref>{{cite news |date=May 2024 |title=African state applies to join Shanghai Cooperation Organization |url=https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/274381084/african-state-applies-to-join-shanghai-cooperation-organization}}</ref>
|}

In 2010, the SCO approved a procedure for admitting new members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/wjdt_665385/2649_665393/201006/t20100625_679309.html|website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China|title=Declaration of the 10th Meeting of The Council of Heads of State of the SCO Member States Tashkent, 10-11 June 2010|date=11 June 2010|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref> In 2011, [[Turkey]] applied for dialogue partner status,<ref name="TheHindu">{{cite news |last=Radyuhin |first=Vladimir |date=2 December 2011 |title=Vietnam bids to join SCO |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/vietnam-bids-to-join-sco/article2681358.ece |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=Moscow |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref> which it obtained in 2013. At the same time, Turkey is a [[NATO]] member and the [[European Union]] candidate country. Turkish Prime Minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] has stated that he has discussed the possibility of abandoning Turkey's candidacy of [[Accession of Turkey to the European Union|accession to the]] [[European Union]] in return for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.thenewturkey.org/turkey-between-shanghai-and-brussels |title = Turkey between Shanghai and Brussels|date = 14 May 2013|website = The New Turkey|last=Dalay|first= Galip|translator-last=Öz|translator-first=Handan|access-date = 1 July 2013|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160206085447/http://www.thenewturkey.org/turkey-between-shanghai-and-brussels/|archive-date = 6 February 2016}}</ref> This was reinforced again on 21 November 2016, after the [[European Parliament]] voted unanimously to suspend accession negotiations with Turkey.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-europe-erdogan-idUSKBN13F0CY| title = Fed up with EU, Erdogan says Turkey could join Shanghai Group| date = 21 November 2016| work = Reuters| last = Butler| first = Daren| access-date = 21 November 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170621032937/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-europe-erdogan-idUSKBN13F0CY| archive-date = 21 June 2017| url-status = live}}</ref> Two days later, on 23 November 2016, Turkey was granted the chairmanship of SCO energy club for the 2017 period. That made Turkey the first country to chair a club in the organisation without full membership status. In 2022, at the 22nd summit of the SCO, the Turkish president said that Turkey would seek full SCO membership status.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Turkey Seeks to Be First NATO Member to Join China-Led SCO |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-17/turkey-seeks-china-led-bloc-membership-in-threat-to-nato-allies?srnd=fixed-income |access-date=17 September 2022 |newspaper=Bloomberg.com| date=17 September 2022 }}</ref> On 11 July 2024, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in a statement to the U.S. [[Newsweek]] magazine that they did not consider Turkey's membership in NATO as an alternative to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and [[BRICS]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-11 |title=Exclusive: Why Turkey's Erdogan Is Breaking With Biden on Ukraine and Gaza |url=https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-why-turkeys-erdogan-breaking-biden-ukraine-gaza-1923595 |website=Newsweek |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2011, [[Vietnam]] expressed interest in obtaining observer status (but has not applied for it).<ref name="TheHindu" />

In 2012, [[Ukraine]] expressed interest in obtaining observer status. However, since the deposition of President [[Viktor Yanukovych]] and [[Russo-Ukrainian War|increased tensions with Russia]], no application has been submitted and there are no current plans to incorporate Ukraine into the organization.<ref>{{cite news |date=25 August 2012 |title=Yanukovych Tells Putin Kyiv Wants SCO Observer Status |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/yanukovych-tells-putin-kyiv-wants-sco-observer-status/24687868.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://infoshos.ru/en/?idn=10558 |title=Why Ukraine wants to become SCO's partner |last=Grigoryan |first=Gurgen |date=8 October 2012 |website=InfoSCO |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref>

[[Azerbaijan]] expects to receive observer status according to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada. Azerbaijan will probably become a full member of the SCO in a little while, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during his meeting with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on 3 July 2024 in Astana.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/104014/|title=Azerbaijan expects to become SCO observer - Foreign Ministry|website=interfax.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.apa.az/foreign-policy/kazakh-president-azerbaijan-will-probably-become-a-full-member-of-the-sco-in-a-little-while-441777 | title=Kazakh President: Azerbaijan will probably become a full member of the SCO in a little while }}</ref>

== Activities ==
===Cooperation on security===
===Cooperation on security===
As of 2023, the SCO is primarily centered on security-related concerns, describing the main threats it confronts as being [[terrorism]], [[separatism]] and [[extremism]]. It has addressed regional [[human trafficking]] and [[Arms trafficking|weapons trafficking]] and created terrorist blacklists.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=96}}
[[Image:SCO Peace Mission 2007.jpg|thumb|right|300px|SCO leaders at Peace Mission 2007]]
The SCO is primarily centered around its member nations' [[Central Asia]]n security-related concerns, often describing the main threats it confronts as being [[terrorism]], [[separatism]] and [[extremism]]. However evidence is growing that its activities in the area of social development of its member states is increasing fast.{{Fact|date=September 2008}}


At the June 16-17 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.<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/22/content_4459199.htm SCO to intensify fight against cross-border drug crimes] Xinhua.net</ref>
At SCO summit, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 16–17 June 2004, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was established. On 21 April 2006, the SCO announced plans to fight cross-border drug crimes under the counter-terrorism rubric.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/22/content_4459199.htm | title = SCO to intensify fight against cross-border drug crimes | date = 22 April 2006 | location = Beijing | editor-last= Luan |editor-first=Shanglin | agency = [[Xinhua News Agency]] | access-date = 11 June 2016 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150515211539/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/22/content_4459199.htm | archive-date = 15 May 2015}}</ref>


In October 2007, the SCO signed an agreement with the [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]] (CSTO), in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://fp.brecorder.com/2007/10/20071006634365/ | title = Security alliances led by Russia, China link up | date = 6 October 2007 | work = Business Recorder | location = Dushanbe | access-date = 4 August 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180804170100/http://fp.brecorder.com/2007/10/20071006634365/ | archive-date = 4 August 2018 | url-status = live }}</ref>
Grigory Logninov claimed in April 2006 that the SCO has no plans to become a military bloc; nonetheless he argued that the increased threats of "terrorism, extremism and separatism" make necessary a full-scale involvement of armed forces.<ref>[http://www.studentpa.info/spip.php?article248 SCO gets ready for joint military exercise] World Student Press Agency</ref>


As of 2010, the organisation was opposing [[cyberwarfare]], saying that the dissemination of information "harmful to the spiritual, moral and cultural spheres of other states" should be considered a "security threat". An accord adopted in 2009 defined "[[information warfare|information war]]", in part, as an effort by a state to undermine another's "political, economic, and social systems".<ref>{{cite news
There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China.<ref name="exercise">[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/26/content_4476403.htm SCO to stage joint anti-terror military exercise in 2007] Xinhua.net</ref>
| url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130052701
| title=Seeing The Internet As An 'Information Weapon'
| work=National Public Radio
| first=Tom
| last=Gjelten
| date=23 September 2010
| access-date=23 September 2010
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924110725/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130052701
| archive-date=24 September 2010
| url-status=live
}}</ref> ''[[The Diplomat]]'' reported in 2017 that SCO has foiled 600 terror plots and extradited 500 terrorists through RATS.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Desai|first=Suyash|url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/indias-sco-challenge/|title=India's SCO Challenge|work=The Diplomat|date=5 December 2017|access-date=16 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406230817/https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/indias-sco-challenge/|archive-date=6 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The 36th meeting of the Council of the RATS decided to hold a joint anti-terror exercise, Pabbi-Antiterror-2021, in Pakistan in 2021.<ref>{{cite web|last=PTI|date=21 March 2021|title=India, Pakistan, China to participate in SCO joint anti-terrorism exercise|url=https://theprint.in/diplomacy/india-pakistan-china-to-participate-in-sco-joint-anti-terrorism-exercise/625869/|access-date=27 March 2021|website=ThePrint|language=en-US}}</ref>


At the summit in [[Astana]], [[Kazakhstan]], in July 2024, the SCO called for the creation of a fair, multipolar world order based on the key role of the United Nations, international law and the aspiration of sovereign states towards a mutually beneficial partnership.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Putin: Treba stvoriti multipolarni svjetski poredak |url=https://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=2579497 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=www.index.hr |language=hr}}</ref>
On a larger scale, but outside the SCO framework, the first ever joint military exercise between the [[People's Republic of China|PRC]] and [[Russia]], called [[Peace Mission 2005]] started on August 19, 2005. Following their successful completion, Russian officials have begun speaking of India joining such exercises in the future and the SCO taking on a military role.


===Military activities===
The joint military exercises in 2007 (known as "Peace Mission 2007") took place in [[Chelyabinsk]] Russia, near the [[Ural Mountains]] and close to Central Asia, as was agreed upon on April 2006 at a meeting of SCO Defense Ministers. More than 4,000 soldiers participated from China. Air forces and precision-guided weapons were have likely to be used. Russian Defense Minister [[Sergei Ivanov]] said that the exercises will be transparent and open to media and the public.<ref name="exercise"/><ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/27/content_4479247.htm SCO's anti-terrorism military drill to be transparent] Xinhua.net</ref>
[[File:Putin and Hu JintaoPeace Mission 2007.jpg|thumb|left|SCO leaders at Peace Mission 2007. [[Hu Jintao]], [[Vladimir Putin]], [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] and [[Islam Karimov]]]]


As of 2009, the organisation's activities expanded to include increased military cooperation, [[intelligence sharing]], and [[counterterrorism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/10883/|title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organization|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|last=Scheineson|first=Andrew |date=24 March 2009|access-date=21 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511042105/http://www.cfr.org/publication/10883/|archive-date=11 May 2010}}</ref> At the same time, leaders of SCO states repeatedly stated that the SCO was not a military alliance.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tugsbilguun |first=Tumurkhuleg |date=2008–2009 |title=Does the Shanghai Cooperation Represent an Example of a Military Alliance? |url=https://www.mongoliajol.info/index.php/MJIA/article/download/32/32 |journal=The Mongolian Journal of International Affairs |volume=15–16 |pages=59–107 |access-date=6 August 2022 |quote=In contrast, the political leaders and most analysts in the SCO member states, especially those in its two most influential members, Russia and China, have repeatedly emphasized that the SCO is not a military alliance, since it is not directed against a third party and is only interested in combating threats posed by terrorism, separatism and extremism.}}</ref>
In October 2007, the SCO signed an agreement with the [[Collective Security Treaty Organisation]] (CSTO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.<ref>[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C10%5C06%5Cstory_6-10-2007_pg4_3 Security alliances led by Russia, China link up] Daily Times</ref> Joint action plans between the two organizations are planned to be signed by early 2008 in Beijing.<ref>[http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372661 Kazakhstan Notes Afghanistan's Emerging Security Agenda] Eurasia Daily Monitor</ref>

As of 2023, the SCO had not provided military support in any actual conflicts.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=100}} However, as of 2017, military exercises have regularly been conducted among members to promote cooperation and coordination against terrorism and other external threats, and to maintain regional peace and stability.<ref name="about-sco">{{cite web|url=http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/|title=About SCO|publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028182720/http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/|archive-date=28 October 2017|access-date=9 June 2017}}</ref> There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China. Since then China and Russia have teamed up for large-scale war games in [[Peace Mission 2005]], Peace Mission 2007 and Peace Mission 2009, under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. More than 4,000 soldiers participated at the joint military exercises in Peace Mission 2007, which took place in [[Chelyabinsk]], Russia near the [[Ural Mountains]], as was agreed upon in April 2006 at a meeting of SCO Defence Ministers.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hutzler|first=Charles|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-122597957.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904133349/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-122597957.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 September 2015|title=China, Russia, Others to Hold Joint Drills|agency=Associated Press|date=26 April 2006|access-date=12 June 2015|url-access=subscription |via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Yu|first=Bin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/opinion/17iht-edbin.1.7927841.html?_r=0|title=Common exercise, different goals|newspaper=The New York Times|date=17 October 2007|access-date=12 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614172225/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/opinion/17iht-edbin.1.7927841.html?_r=0|archive-date=14 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, Russian Defence Minister [[Sergei Ivanov]] said that the exercises would be transparent and open to media and the public. Following the war games' successful completion, Russian officials began speaking of India joining such exercises in the future and the SCO taking on a military role. Peace Mission 2010, conducted 9–25 September at Kazakhstan's Matybulak training area, saw over 5,000 personnel from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conduct joint planning and operational maneuvers.<ref>{{citation | last = Boland | first = Julie | url = http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/1029_asia_war_games_boland.aspx | title = Learning From The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's 'Peace Mission-2010' Exercise" | publisher = [[The Brookings Institution]] | date = 29 October 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110628085252/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/1029_asia_war_games_boland.aspx | archive-date = 28 June 2011}}</ref>

The SCO has served as a platform for larger military announcements by members. During the 2007 war games in Russia, with leaders of SCO member states in attendance including Chinese President [[Hu Jintao]], Russia's President [[Vladimir Putin]] used the occasion to take advantage of a captive audience. Russian strategic bombers, he said, would resume regular long-range patrols for the first time since the [[Cold War]]. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on the strategic scale", Putin said. "Our pilots have been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new life".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-08-17 |title=Russia to revive long-range bomber patrols |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20318458 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129114325/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20318458 |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=[[NBC News]] |language=en |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-08-17 |title=Russia To Resume Long-Range Bomber Patrols |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-to-resume-long-range-bomber-patrols/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807105608/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-to-resume-long-range-bomber-patrols/ |archive-date=August 7, 2024 |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In June 2014, in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, the idea was brought up to merge the SCO with the [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]]. However, as of late 2022, in the wake of [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in 2022, many SCO and even CSTO members had distanced themselves from military cooperation with Russia.<ref name="alj">{{Cite news |last=Hess |first=Maximilian |date=9 October 2022 |title=Putin is fighting alone |language=en |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/10/9/putin-is-increasingly-fighting-alone |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref>


===Economic cooperation===
===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 [[Premier of the People's Republic of China|PRC's Premier]], [[Wen Jiabao]], proposed a long-term objective to establish a [[free trade area]] in the SCO, while other more immediate measures would be taken to improve the flow of goods in the region. A follow up plan with 100 specific actions was signed one year later, on September 23, 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/03-10-01/story3.htm |title= China Intensifies Regional Trade Talks |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071024121832/http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/03-10-01/story3.htm |archivedate=2007-10-24}} International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)</ref><ref>[http://www.shaps.hawaii.edu/fp/russia/2004/20040923_sco_jc.html Joint Communique of the Council of the Governmental Heads (Prime Ministers) of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States] University of Hawaii</ref>
In September 2003, a Framework Agreement to enhance economic cooperation was signed by the SCO member states. At the same meeting the [[Premier of the People's Republic of China|Premier of China]], [[Wen Jiabao]], proposed a long-term objective to establish a [[free trade area]] in the SCO, while other more immediate measures would be taken to improve the flow of goods in the region.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/LEAD%3A+Central+Asian+powers+agree+to+pursue+free-trade+zone.-a0108316611 | title = LEAD: Central Asian powers agree to pursue free-trade zone. | date = 23 September 2003 | location = Beijing | author = Kyodo News | publisher = Kyodo News International, Inc. | access-date = 21 July 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150717215118/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/LEAD%3a+Central+Asian+powers+agree+to+pursue+free-trade+zone.-a0108316611 | archive-date = 17 July 2015 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/03-10-01/story3.htm |title= China Intensifies Regional Trade Talks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024121832/http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/03-10-01/story3.htm |archive-date=24 October 2007 }} International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)</ref> A follow-up plan with 100 specific actions was signed one year later, on 23 September 2004.<ref>{{cite press release | url = http://www.shaps.hawaii.edu/fp/russia/2004/20040923_sco_jc.html | title = Joint Communique of the Council of the Governmental Heads (Prime Ministers) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Member States | date = 23 September 2004 | author = China Foreign Ministry | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090330053454/http://www.shaps.hawaii.edu/fp/russia/2004/20040923_sco_jc.html | archive-date = 30 March 2009}}</ref>

In October 2005, during the Moscow Summit of the SCO, the Secretary General of the Organisation said that the SCO would prioritise joint energy projects; including in the oil and gas sector, the exploration of new [[hydrocarbon]] reserves, and joint use of water resources. The creation of the [[SCO Interbank Consortium]] was also agreed upon in order to fund future joint projects. In February 2006, the first meeting of the SCO Interbank Association was held in Beijing.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370411 | title = Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Eyes Economic, Security Cooperation | work = Eurasia Daily Monitor | publisher = The Jamestown Foundation | first = Sergei | last = Blagov | date = 31 October 2005 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071101021114/http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370411 | archive-date = 1 November 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://eng.nbu.com/news/read.php?id=421 |title=SCO Ministers of Foreign Economic Activity and Trade to meet in Tashkent |publisher=National Bank of Uzbekistan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815171922/http://eng.nbu.com/news/read.php?id=421 |archive-date=15 August 2011 }}</ref> In November 2006, at ''The SCO: Results and Perspectives'', an international conference held in Almaty, the representative of the [[Russian Foreign Ministry]] announced that Russia was developing plans for an SCO "Energy Club".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=84086 | title = Russia's Foreign Ministry develops concept of SCO Energy Club | work = Kazakhstan Today | publisher = Gazeta.kz Internet Agency | date = 1 December 2006 | location = [[Almaty]], Kazakhstan | access-date = 3 December 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071007075148/http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=84086 | archive-date = 7 October 2007 | url-status = live }}</ref> in November 2007, Moscow reiterated the need for this "energy club" at an SCO summit. Other SCO members, however, did not commit themselves to the idea.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav110707a.shtml | title = Russia Urges Formation of Central Asian Energy Club | work = Eurasianet | date = 6 November 2007 | first = Sergei | last = Blagov | publisher = The Open Society Institute | access-date = 11 June 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063714/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav110707a.shtml | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref> During the 2008 summit it was stated that "Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth of world economy pursuing a responsible currency and financial policy, control over the capital flowing, ensuring food and [[energy security]] have been gaining special significance".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sectsco.org/html/00030.html | title = Chronicle of Main Events of 'Shanghai Five' and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation | publisher = The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation | year = 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081014132514/http://www.sectsco.org/html/00030.html | archive-date = 14 October 2008}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2016}}

At the 2007 SCO summit, Iranian Vice President [[Parviz Davoodi]] addressed an initiative that had been garnering greater interest when he said, "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a good venue for designing a new banking system which is independent from international banking systems".<ref>Mehr News Agency, 31 October 2008.</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2023}}

President Putin included these comments:
<blockquote>
We now clearly see the defectiveness of the monopoly in world finance and the policy of economic selfishness. To solve the current problem Russia will take part in changing the global financial structure so that it will be able to guarantee stability and prosperity in the world and to ensure progress.
<br />
The world is seeing the emergence of a qualitatively different [[geo-political]] situation, with the emergence of new centers of economic growth and political influence.
<br />
We will witness and take part in the transformation of the global and regional security and development architectures adapted to new realities of the 21st century, when stability and prosperity are becoming inseparable notions.<ref>''Russia Today'', 30 October 2008</ref>
</blockquote>

[[File:SCO Summit Ekaterinburg 2009.jpg|thumb|Leaders present at the SCO summit in [[Yekaterinburg]], Russia in 2009]]

In June 2009, at the Yekaterinburg Summit, China announced plans to provide a US$10 billion loan to other SCO member states to shore up the struggling economies of its members amid the global financial crisis.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/16/content_11552439.htm | title = China to provide 10-billion-dollar loan to SCO members | editor-last= Deng |editor-first=Shasha | date = 16 June 2009 | location = Yekaterinburg, Russia | agency = [[Xinhua News Agency]] | access-date = 21 July 2015 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073311/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/16/content_11552439.htm | archive-date = 4 March 2016}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |editor=Yan |title=China, Russia sign five-point joint statement |date=18 June 2009 |access-date=23 June 2009 |quote=They also said that a new round of the IMF quota formula review and the reform schemes of the World Bank should be completed on time and that the emerging markets and developing countries should have a bigger say and broader representation in the international financial institutions. |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/18/content_11558133.htm |agency=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620111314/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/18/content_11558133.htm |archive-date=20 June 2009}}</ref>

In 2014, the [[Eurasian Economic Union]] was founded in which Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are members.

During the 2019 Bishkek summit, [[Pakistani Prime Minister]] [[Imran Khan]] suggested taking steps to trade in local currencies instead of U.S. dollars and setting up financial institutions including an SCO bank.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/shanghai-cooperation-organization-summit-kicks-off-in-bishkek/1504148|title=Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit kicks off in Bishkek|website=www.aa.com.tr|access-date=29 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929213418/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/shanghai-cooperation-organization-summit-kicks-off-in-bishkek/1504148|archive-date=29 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 2022, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari suggested creating a single SCO currency to facilitate trade and financial transactions among SCO members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/1122205 |language=fa |script-title=fa:پیشنهاد ایران به سازمان شانگهای برای ایجاد پول واحد
|trans-title=Iran's proposal to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to create a single currency |date=2 June 2022 |website=TABNAK |access-date=12 July 2022}}</ref>

During 19–22 October 2022, Iran hosted SCOCOEX, an international conference and exhibition on economic cooperation opportunities available to the SCO member states and partners.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2022/06/21/2731950/scocoex-event-in-iran-deferred-to-october |title=SCOCOEX Event in Iran Deferred to October |date=21 June 2022 |website=Tasnim |access-date=12 July 2022}}</ref>

As part of the SCO's economic agenda, it has established a relatively successful student exchange program called the SCO University.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}}

=== Cultural cooperation ===
Culture ministers of the SCO met for the first time in Beijing on 12 April 2002, signing a joint statement for continued cooperation. The third meeting of the Culture Ministers took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 27–28 April 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://english.people.com.cn/200204/13/eng20020413_93954.shtml |title = Culture Ministers of SCO Member States Meet in Beijing |date = 13 April 2002 |newspaper = People's Daily |publisher = People's Daily Online |access-date = 11 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130426094709/http://english.people.com.cn/200204/13/eng20020413_93954.shtml |archive-date = 26 April 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=74059 |title = SCO Culture Ministers to Meet in Tashkent | work = Kazakhstan Today | publisher = Gazeta.kz Internet Agency |date = 17 April 2006 |location = [[Almaty]], Kazakhstan |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090418125956/http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=74059 |archive-date = 18 April 2009}}</ref>


An SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was held for the first time during the Astana Summit in 2005. Kazakhstan suggested an SCO [[folk dance]] festival to take place in 2008, in Astana.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2141605 |title = Kazakhstan Backs Promotion of SCO Cultural Ties |work = KazInform |agency = [[Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union|KazInform]] International News Agency |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195124/http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2141605 |archive-date = 3 March 2016 }}</ref>
On 26 October 2005, the [[Moscow]] Summit of the SCO, the Secretary General of the Organisation said that the SCO will prioritise joint energy projects; such will include the oil and gas sector, the exploration of new hydrocarbon reserves, and joint use of water resources. The creation of an Inter-bank SCO Council was also agreed upon at that summit in order to fund future joint projects. The first meeting of the SCO Interbank Association was held in Beijing on 21-22 February 2006.<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370411 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Eyes Economic, Security Cooperation] The Jamestown Foundation</ref><ref>[http://eng.nbu.com/news/read.php?id=421 SCO Ministers of Foreign Economic Activity and Trade to meet in Tashkent] National Bank of Uzbekistan</ref> On 30 November 2006, at ''The SCO: Results and Perspectives'', an international conference held in [[Almaty]], the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia is developing plans for an SCO "Energy Club".<ref>[http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=84086 Russia's Foreign Ministry develops concept of SCO energy club] Gazeta.kz</ref>. The need for this "club" was reiterated by Moscow at an SCO summit in November 2007. Other SCO members, however, have not committed themselves to the idea.<ref>[http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav110707a.shtml Russia Urges Formation of Central Asian Energy Club] Eurasianet</ref>


===Cultural cooperation===
===SCO+===
The SCO+ forum format was initiated by the [[United Russia]] party in October 2020. This format includes inter-party interaction not only of the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (members, observers, candidates) but also of the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] and [[BRICS]] countries.
Cultural cooperation also occurs in the SCO framework. Culture ministers of the SCO met for the first time in [[Beijing]] on 12 April 2002, signing a joint statement for continued cooperation. The third meeting of the Culture Ministers took place in [[Tashkent]], Uzbekistan, on 27-28 April 2006.<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/200204/13/eng20020413_93954.shtml Culture Ministers of SCO Member States Meet in Beijing] People's Daily</ref><ref>[http://eng.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=74059 SCO Culture Ministers to Meet in Tashkent] Gazeta.kz</ref>


It was first used during the SCO+ international inter-party forum "Economy for People" on 22–23 October 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://iiip.online/shos.html |title=Официальный сайт форума ШОС+ |trans-title=Official website of the SCO+ forum |access-date=2020-11-04 |archive-date=2020-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123161140/https://iiip.online/shos.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The forum was attended by speakers from 25 countries, including the chairman of the United Russia party, [[Dmitry Medvedev]], ministers of the SCO countries, Serbian President [[Aleksandar Vučić]], and ambassadors and diplomats of the CIS and BRICS countries. Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] sent greetings to the forum participants.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rg.ru/2020/10/22/putin-napravil-privetstvie-uchastnikam-mezhpartijnogo-foruma-shos.html |title=Путин направил приветствие участникам межпартийного форума ШОС+ |trans-title=Putin sent a greeting to the participants of the SCO+ inter-party forum |website=Rossiyskaya Gazeta |date=22 October 2020 |accessdate=2020-11-04 |archive-date=2020-11-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101113858/https://rg.ru/2020/10/22/putin-napravil-privetstvie-uchastnikam-mezhpartijnogo-foruma-shos.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
An SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was held for the first time during the [[Astana]] Summit in 2005. Kazakhstan has also suggested an SCO [[folk dance]] festival to take place in 2008, in [[Astana]].<ref>[http://www.kazind.com/newsarchives/newsvol66.html Kazakhstan Backs Promotion of SCO Cultural Ties] Embassy of Kazakhstan in India</ref>


==Summits==
==Summits==
According to the Charter of the SCO, summits of the Council of Heads of State shall be held annually at alternating venues. The locations of these summits follow the alphabetical order of the member state's name in Russian.<ref name=charter>[http://www.sectsco.org/html/00096.html Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation] SCO Website</ref> The charter also dictates that the Council of Heads of Government (that is, the Prime Ministers) shall meet annually in a place previously decided upon by the council members. The Council of Foreign Ministers is supposed to hold a summit one month before the annual summit of Heads of State. Extraordinary meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers can be called by any two member states.<ref name=charter/>
According to the Charter of the SCO, summits of the Council of Heads of State shall be held annually at alternating venues. The locations of these summits follow the alphabetical order of the member state's name in Russian.<ref name=charter>{{cite web|url=http://www.sectsco.org/html/00096.html |title=Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713224811/http://www.sectsco.org/html/00096.html |archive-date=13 July 2014 }}</ref> The charter also dictates that the Council of Heads of Government (that is, the Prime Ministers) shall meet annually in a place decided upon by the council members. The Council of Foreign Ministers is supposed to hold a summit one month before the annual summit of Heads of State. Extraordinary meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers can be called by any two member states.<ref name=charter/>
{{clear}}


{{Multiple image
===List of Summits===
| align = center
[[Image:SCO Heads of Gov.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A summit of the SCO's Council of Heads of Government in 2006]]
| direction = horizontal
{| class="wikitable sortable" bgcolor="#F5F5F5" align="left"
| total_width = 720
!colspan=4|'''Heads of State'''
| image1 = Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit Bishkek 2007.jpg
| caption1 = Summit of [[Bishkek]] ([[Kyrgyzstan]]) in 2007
| image2 = SCO summit (2018-06-10) 1.jpg
| caption2 = Heads of state of member states at the 2018 summit in [[Qingdao]], [[Shandong]], China
| image3 = Meeting of SCO leaders - 20190614 - 01.jpg
| caption3 = Heads of states and governments of the member states at the 2019 summit
| image4 = SCO meeting (2022-09-16).jpg
| caption4 = Heads of states and governments of the member states at the [[2022 SCO summit|2022 summit]] in [[Samarkand]], Uzbekistan
}}

===List of summits===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right:1em"
|+ Summits of heads of state
|-
|-
! scope="col" | Date !! scope="col" | Country !! scope="col" | Location
!width="40"|Date
!width="200"|Country
!Location
|-
|-
| align=center|2001 || {{PRC}} || [[Shanghai]]
| style="text-align:right" | 14–15 June 2001 || {{CHN}} || [[Shanghai]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2002 || {{RUS}} || [[Saint Petersburg]]
| style="text-align:right" | 7 June 2002 || {{RUS}} || [[Saint Petersburg]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2003 || {{RUS}} || [[Moscow]]
| style="text-align:right" | 29 May 2003 || {{RUS}} || [[Moscow]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2004 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]
| style="text-align:right" | 17 June 2004 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2005 || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]
| style="text-align:right" | 5 July 2005 || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2006 || {{PRC}} || Shanghai
| style="text-align:right" | 15 June 2006 || {{CHN}} || [[Shanghai]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2007 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]
| style="text-align:right" | 16 August 2007 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2008 || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]<ref name=future>[http://www.sectsco.org/html/00039.html Main Events of SCO Secretariat in 2008] SCO Website</ref>
| style="text-align:right" | 28 August 2008 || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2009 || {{RUS}} || [[Yekaterinburg]]<ref name=future/>
| style="text-align:right" | 15–16 June 2009 || {{RUS}} || [[Yekaterinburg]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 10–11 June 2010 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]<ref name="yekat">{{Cite web |title=Joint Communiqué of Meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |url=http://www.sectsco.org/EN/show.asp?id=88 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710232015/http://www.sectsco.org/EN/show.asp?id=88 |archive-date=10 July 2014 |publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 14–15 June 2011 || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 June 2010 |title=SCO vows to strengthen cooperation with its observers, dialogue partners |agency=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |location=[[Tashkent]], Uzbekistan |editor-last=Tang |editor-first=Danlu |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-06/11/c_13345841.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=11 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106123408/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-06/11/c_13345841.htm |archive-date=6 November 2012}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | [[2012 SCO summit|6–7 June 2012]] || {{CHN}} || [[Beijing]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 13 September 2013 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | [[2014 SCO summit|11–12 September 2014]] || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 9–10 July 2015 || {{RUS}} || [[Ufa]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 23–24 June 2016 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Song Miou |date=10 July 2015 |title=Uzbekistan to host 16th SCO summit in 2016 |agency=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |location=[[Ufa]], Russia |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-07/10/c_134401944.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=11 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003103344/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-07/10/c_134401944.htm |archive-date=3 October 2015}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | [[2017 SCO summit|8–9 June 2017]] || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | {{Interlanguage link|2018 SCO summit|zh|2018年上海合作组织青岛峰会|lt=9–10 June 2018}} || {{CHN}} || [[Qingdao]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 14–15 June 2019 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 January 2019 |title=Kyrgyzstan to host SCO summit in June 2019 |publisher=AKIpress News Agency |url=https://akipress.com/news:615057/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424151843/https://akipress.com/news:615057/ |archive-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 10 November 2020 || {{RUS}} || ''videoconference''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Заседание Совета глав государств – членов ШОС |date=10 November 2020 |url=http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64385 |website=kremlin.ru |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 16–17 September 2021 || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 August 2021 |title=PM to attend SCO head of states meeting in Dushanbe |url=https://www.brecorder.com/news/40115796 |website=Business Recorder }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | [[2022 SCO summit|15–16 September 2022]]|| {{UZB}} || [[Samarkand]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 4 July 2023 || {{IND}} || ''videoconference''<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Indian Ministry of External Affairs |type=press release |date=30 May 2023 |title=SCO Summit under India's Chairmanship |url=https://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/36622/SCO_Summit_under_Indias_Chairmanship |access-date=5 July 2023 |language=english}}</ref><ref name="nyt">{{Cite news |last1=Pierson |first1=David |last2=Kurmanaev |first2=Anatoly |last3=Yasir |first3=Sameer |date=4 July 2023 |title=Putin, Xi and Modi Meet on Camera, but With No Signs of Greater Unity |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/04/world/asia/putin-xi-modi-shanghai-summit.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=5 July 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705021029/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/04/world/asia/putin-xi-modi-shanghai-summit.html |archive-date=5 July 2023 }}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | [[2024 SCO summit|3–4 July 2024]] || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 2025 || {{CHN}} || TBA
|}
|}


{| class="wikitable sortable" bgcolor="#F5F5F5"
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left"
|+ Summits of heads of government
!colspan=4|'''Heads of Government'''
|-
|-
! scope="col" | Date !! scope="col" | Country !! scope="col" | Location
!width="40"|Date
!width="200"|Country
!Location
|-
|-
| align=center|2001 || {{KAZ}} || [[Almaty]]
| style="text-align:right" | 14 September 2001 || {{KAZ}} || [[Almaty]]
|-
|-
| style="text-align:right" | — || — || —
| align=center|2002 || {{RUS}} || [[Saint Petersburg]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2003 || {{PRC}} || [[Beijing]]
| style="text-align:right" | 23 September 2003 || {{CHN}} || [[Beijing]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2004 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]
| style="text-align:right" | 23 September 2004 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2005 || {{RUS}} || [[Moscow]]
| style="text-align:right" | 26 October 2005 || {{RUS}} || [[Moscow]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2006 || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]
| style="text-align:right" | 15 September 2006 || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2007 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]
| style="text-align:right" | 2 November 2007 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]
|-
|-
| align=center|2008 || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]<ref name=future/>
| style="text-align:right" | 30 October 2008 || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 14 October 2009 || {{CHN}} || [[Beijing]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ho |first=Stephanie |date=14 October 2009 |title=Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit Concludes in Beijing |publisher=[[Voice of America]] |location=Beijing |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-14-voa14.cfm |access-date=11 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026210050/http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-14-voa14.cfm |archive-date=26 October 2009}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 25 November 2010 || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 November 2010 |title=Wen arrives in Tajikistan for SCO meeting |work=[[China Daily]] |agency=Xinhua News Agency |location=Dushanbe, Tajikistan |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-11/25/content_11607534.htm |url-status=live |access-date=11 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807200114/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-11/25/content_11607534.htm |archive-date=7 August 2016}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 7 November 2011 || {{RUS}} || [[Saint Petersburg]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 5 December 2012 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 December 2012 |title=SCO Meeting Expected to Boost Cooperation Among Members |work=The Gazette of Central Asia |publisher=Satrapia |url=http://www.satrapia.com/news/article/sco-meeting-expected-to-boost-cooperation-among-members/}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 29 November 2013 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 14–15 December 2014 || {{KAZ}} || [[Astana]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 14–15 December 2015 || {{CHN}} || [[Zhengzhou]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 2–3 November 2016 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 30 November 2017 || {{RUS}} || [[Sochi]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 11–12 October 2018 || {{TJK}} || [[Dushanbe]]
|-
| style="text-align:right" | 1–2 November 2019 || {{UZB}} || [[Tashkent]]
|-
|style="text-align:right" | 30 November 2020 || {{IND}} || ''videoconference''
|-
|style="text-align:right" | 25 November 2021 || {{KAZ}} || ''videoconference''
|-
|style="text-align:right" | 1 November 2022 || {{CHN}} || ''videoconference''
|-
|style="text-align:right" | 26 Oсtober 2023 || {{KGZ}} || [[Bishkek]]
|-
|style="text-align:right" | [[SCO Islamabad Summit 2024|15–16 October 2024]]|| {{PAK}}|| [[Islamabad]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 May 2024 |title=SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming's remarks at a news conference following the SCO Foreign Ministers Council Meeting (Astana, 21 May 2024) |url=https://eng.sectsco.org/20240522/1356437.html |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sajjad |first=Baqir |date=5 July 2024 |title=Pakistan to host SCO leaders in October |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1843888/pakistan-to-host-sco-leaders-in-october |access-date=5 July 2024 |website=Dawn}}</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:right" | 2025 || {{CHN}} || TBA
|}
|}
</br>
</br>


{{clear left}}
==Future membership possibilities==
Currently, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization does not have an official mechanism for admitting new members.<ref>[http://www.interfax.kz/?lang=eng&int_id=10&function=view&news_id=1982 Moratorium on SCO expansion unlikely to be lifted in near future - source] Interfax Kazakhstan</ref> Several states, however, participate as observers, some of whom have expressed interest in becoming full members in the future.


==Analysis==
===Current observers===
===Relations with the West===
[[Image:SCO Observers.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Putin with representatives from Iran and Mongolia, observers in the SCO, at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Government in 2005]]
*{{IND}} currently has observer status in the SCO. Members of the SCO have encouraged India to join the organization as a full-time member. With the world's third largest standing army, fourth largest (PPP) and second fastest growing major economy, and an increasing political and economic clout, India is seen by SCO members as a crucial future strategic partner.<ref>[http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article313.html Shanghai Cooperation Organisation - Towards New Dynamism - Mainstream Weekly<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Additional factors working in favor of India joining the SCO are its major military presence in Central Asia, <ref>[http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav062606a.shtml EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - India: The New Central Asian Player<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IC03Df01.html Asia Times Online :: South Asia news - India makes a soft landing in Tajikistan<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> its close military ties with several Central Asian countries (especially Tajikistan and Russia) and also its deep interest in the region's energy resources.<ref>[http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080827/116328450.html <!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.idsa.in/publications/stratcomments/NiveditaKundu071106.htm <!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Factors working against India's joining the SCO as a member include India's persistent military rivalry with fellow SCO-observer Pakistan, its nascent strategic tilt towards the United States and its general reluctance to make binding ties to groups that could compromise its strategic independence.


The [[United States]] applied for observer status in the SCO, but was rejected in 2005.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/16/shanghaisurprise | title = Shanghai surprise: The summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation reveals how power is shifting in the world | first = Dilip | last = Hiro | date = 16 June 2006 | website = The Guardian | access-date = 19 June 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140923025607/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/jun/16/shanghaisurprise | archive-date = 23 September 2014 | url-status = live }}</ref>
*{{IRN}} currently has observer status in the organisation, and applied for full membership on March 24, 2008.<ref name=expanding>[http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=48781&sectionid=351020101 Iran applies for membership] Press TV</ref>


At the Astana summit in July 2005, with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq foreshadowing an indefinite presence of U.S. forces in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the SCO requested the U.S. to set a clear timetable for withdrawing its troops from SCO member states. Shortly afterwards, Uzbekistan requested the U.S. leave the [[Karshi-Khanabad Air Base|K2 air base]].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/08/stories/2005070800711400.htm | title = Central Asia: China and Russia up the ante | first = Siddharth | last = Varadarajan | date = 8 July 2005 | access-date = 13 December 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090529184633/http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/08/stories/2005070800711400.htm | archive-date = 29 May 2009 | website = [[The Hindu]] | url-status = dead }}</ref>
*{{MNG}} became the first country to receive observer status at the 2004 Tashkent Summit. [[Pakistan]], [[India]] and [[Iran]] received observer status at the 2005 SCO summit in [[Astana]], Kazakhstan on July 5, 2005.


A report in 2007 noted that the SCO has made no direct comments against the U.S. or its military presence in the region; however, some indirect statements at the past summits have been viewed by Western media outlets as "thinly veiled swipes at Washington".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082007a.shtml | title = Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summiteers Take Shots at US Presence in Central Asia | website = Eurasianet | date = 19 August 2007 | first = Joshua | last = Kucera | publisher = The Open Society Institute | access-date = 11 June 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083232/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082007a.shtml | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
*{{PAK}} currently has observer status in the SCO. Former Pakistani President [[Pervez Musharraf]] argued in favour of Pakistan's qualification to join the organisation as a full member during a joint summit with China in 2006. China said that it would convey Pakistan’s desire to all SCO member states. In turn, Musharraf was formally invited to the sixth summit of the SCO to take place in [[Shanghai]] in June. Sino-Pak relations go back decades when Pakistan helped China enter the United Nations and China helped Pakistan get a veto aganist the Kashmir issue later on. China is Pakistan's biggest arms and technology supplier and the third biggest trading partner as well as the basis for Western China's economic growth as it would need the Ports of Pakistan. The linkages between China and Pakistan are also strengthed through the almost unhindered economic trade between the Northern Areas of Pakistan with the muslim majority, semi-autonomous, Xinjiang Province of China, throug the Karakorum Highway.


From 2001 to 2008, the Western reaction to the SCO was generally skepticism of the organization's goals.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}} By the 2010s, however, the West increasingly began to view the SCO as a potential contributor to stability in the region, particularly with regards to Afghanistan.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=96}}
Pakistan and Iran have been lobbying for full membership, while India and Mongolia have not shown strong interest in becoming official members.<ref name=expand>[http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/4697 SCO Fails to Solve Its Expansion Dilemma] Central Asia-Caucasus Institute</ref> Russia's permanent representative in the SCO Secretariat Grigory Longinov has claimed that the enlargement of the SCO is impeded by "an immature mechanism of admission of new members", while Secretary General [[Zhang Deguang]] argued that an over-expansion might hinder the intensification of the cooperation.<ref>[http://news.uzreport.com/mir.cgi?lan=e&id=9086 SCO has immature mechanism of new members admission - official] UzReport</ref>[[Image:Hamid Karzai at SCO Summit.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a SCO summit in 2004]]


In September 2023, the [[United Nations]] approved United Nations resolution A/77/L.107, titled "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization." The result of the vote was 80 in favour to 2 against with 47 abstentions.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://press.un.org/en/2023/ga12523.doc.htm | title=General Assembly Adopts 5 Resolutions, 3 Decisions, including Text Urging States to Consider Need for Woman Secretary-General &#124; UN Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1y/k1y1t01783 | title=General Assembly: 99th Plenary Meeting, 77th session &#124; UN Web TV | date=September 2023 }}</ref> The United States and Israel were the only countries to vote against the resolution.
===Other countries===


Although the [[European Council on Foreign Relations]] dubbed the SCO an "anti NATO alliance" in 2022,<ref name=ecfr>{{Cite web |last1=Aydıntaşbaş |first1=Aslı |last2=Dumoulin |first2=Marie |last3=Geranmayeh |first3=Ellie |last4=Oertel |first4=Janka |date=16 September 2022 |title=Rogue NATO: The new face of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |url=https://ecfr.eu/article/rogue-nato-the-new-face-of-the-shanghai-cooperation-organisation/ |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=ECFR |language=en-GB}}</ref> apparent inconsistencies among its member states have prevented it from becoming an effective geopolitical alliance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaleji |first=Vali |date=13 November 2021 |title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Is No 'New Warsaw' or 'Eastern NATO' |url=https://nationalinterest.org/feature/shanghai-cooperation-organization-no-%E2%80%98new-warsaw%E2%80%99-or-%E2%80%98eastern-nato%E2%80%99-196138 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=The National Interest |language=en}}</ref> As of July 2023, India and Central Asian countries maintained friendly cooperation with both the West and Russia, India has had fierce conflicts with Pakistan and its ally China at the same time, which has been limiting the possibility of China and Russia forming the group into an anti-Western bloc.<ref name="nikkei">{{Cite news |last1=SHARMA |first1=KIRAN |last2=TAN |first2=CK |date=4 July 2023 |title=Putin claims unity, Xi slams decoupling at India-hosted SCO talks |language=en-GB |work=Nikkei Asia |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Putin-claims-unity-Xi-slams-decoupling-at-India-hosted-SCO-talks |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref> Academics Simon Curtis and Ian Klaus write that although SCO has sometimes been compared to NATO, unlike NATO, SCO does not create a collective security alliance.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Simon |title=The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order |last2=Klaus |first2=Ian |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=9780300266900 |location=New Haven and London |publication-date=2024 |pages=167 |doi=10.2307/jj.11589102 |jstor=jj.11589102}}</ref>
*{{AFG}}, while not an observer, is currently part of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group. The contact group was established in November 2005, and serves as a mechanism for SCO member states to jointly contribute to reconstruction and stability in Afghanistan.<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6245785.html SCO, Afghanistan need to deepen cooperation, secretary general] People's Daily</ref>


===Geopolitical aspects===
*{{BLR}} has applied for observer status in the organisation and has been promised Kazakhstan's support towards that goal.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} However, Russian Defense Minister [[Sergei Ivanov]] voiced doubt on the probability of Belarus' membership, saying that Belarus was a purely European country.<ref name=bel>[http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=527&id=670100 The Shanghai Cooperation Organization acquires military character] Kommersant</ref>
[[File:2015 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization 05.jpg|thumb|SCO summit in [[Ufa]], Russia in 2015]]
[[File:SCO and NATO.svg|thumb|right|SCO and NATO Member States]]


At a 2005 summit in Kazakhstan the SCO issued a Declaration of Heads of Member States of the SCO which said: "The heads of the member states point out that, against the backdrop of a contradictory process of [[Globalization|globalisation]], multilateral cooperation, which is based on the principles of equal right and mutual respect, non-intervention in internal affairs of sovereign states, non-confrontational way of thinking and consecutive movement towards democratisation of international relations, contributes to overall peace and security, and call upon the international community, irrespective of its differences in ideology and social structure, to form a new concept of security based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and interaction."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |date=13 July 2005 |url=http://www.sectsco.org/news_detail.asp?id=407&LanguageID=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804191808/http://www.sectsco.org/news_detail.asp?id=407&LanguageID=2 |archive-date=4 August 2014 }}</ref>
==Power balance in a "multi-polar world"==
[[Image:Current_Major_Military_Alliances.png|thumb|right|The SCO, NATO, and other international organizations]]


In November 2005 Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergey Lavrov]] reiterated that the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is working to establish a rational and just world order" and that "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation provides us with a unique opportunity to take part in the process of forming a fundamentally new model of geopolitical integration".<ref>UzReport, 28 November 2005</ref>
SCO countries (full members and observers) comprise a hefty 25% of Earth's land area. Although the declaration on the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation contained a statement that it "is not an alliance directed against other states and regions and it adheres to the principle of openness", many observers believe that one of the original purposes of the SCO was to serve as a counterbalance to [[NATO]] and the [[United States]] and in particular to avoid conflicts that would allow the United States to intervene in areas near both [[Russia]] and [[China]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Tannock|first=Charles|title=Backing Kazakhstan's 'great game'|publisher=Guardian Weekly|date=February 18, 2008|url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/charles_tannock/2008/02/backing_kazakhstans_great_game_.html}}</ref>


In 2007, Matthew Brummer tracked the implications of SCO expansion into the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref>Journal of International Affairs. 2007. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Iran: A Power-full Union. Matthew Brummer</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2023}} In 2008, one aim of SCO was to ensure that [[liberal democracy]] could not gain ground in these countries, according to political scientist [[Thomas Ambrosio]].<ref>{{cite journal|date=October 2008|title=Catching the 'Shanghai Spirit': How the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Promotes Authoritarian Norms in Central Asia|journal=Europe-Asia Studies|volume=60|issue=8|last1=Ambrosio|pages=1321–1344| doi=10.1080/09668130802292143|s2cid=153557248}}</ref> In 2016, political scientist Thomas Fingar wrote that China took the lead in establishing the Shanghai Five primarily to limit Russia's ability to reassert its influence in Central Asia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fingar |first=Thomas |url= |title=The new great game : China and South and Central Asia in the era of reform |date=2016 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |others=Thomas Fingar |isbn=978-0-8047-9764-1 |location=Stanford, California |pages=41 |chapter=China's Goals in South Asia |oclc=939553543 |author-link=Thomas Fingar}}</ref>
The [[United States]] applied for observer status in the SCO, but was rejected in 2005.<ref>[http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dilip_hiro/2006/06/shanghai_surprise.html Shanghai surprise] Guardian Unlimited</ref>


During the [[Russo-Georgian War|2008 Russo-Georgian war]], China opposed Russia's infringement on Georgia's sovereignty.<ref name=":05">{{Cite book |last=Lampton |first=David M. |title=Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-5381-8725-8 |location=Lanham, MD |pages= |author-link=David M. Lampton}}</ref>{{Rp|page=347}} Citing principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and global order, China used its influence in the SCO to prevent the organization from supporting Russia.<ref name=":05" />{{Rp|page=347}}
At the Astana summit in July 2005, with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq foreshadowing an indefinite presence of U.S. forces in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the SCO urged the U.S. to set a timetable for withdrawing its troops from SCO member states. Shortly afterwards, Uzbekistan asked the U.S. to leave the [[Karshi-Khanabad|K-2 air base]].<ref>[http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/08/stories/2005070800711400.htm Central Asia: China and Russia up the ante] The Hindu</ref>


In 2008, Iranian writer [[Hamid Golpira]] had this to say on the topic: "According to [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]]'s theory, control of the [[Eurasia]]n landmass is the key to global domination and control of [[Central Asia]] is the key to control of the Eurasian landmass....Russia and China have been paying attention to Brzezinski's theory, since they formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001, ostensibly to curb extremism in the region and enhance border security, but most probably with the real objective of counterbalancing the activities of the United States and the rest of the [[NATO]] alliance in [[Central Asia]]".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/182891/Iraq-smoke-screen |title=Iraq smoke screen |last=Golpira |first=Hamid |date=20 November 2008 |work=Tehran Times |access-date=4 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804105127/http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/182891/Iraq-smoke-screen |archive-date=4 August 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Recently the SCO has made no direct comments against the U.S. or its military presence in the region. However, several indirect statements at the past summits, including the 2007 summit in [[Bishkek]], have been viewed as "thinly veiled swipes at Washington".<ref>[http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082007a.shtml Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summiteers Take Shots at US Presence in Central Asia] Eurasianet</ref>


In 2008, the ''[[People's Daily]]'' wrote: "The Declaration points out that the SCO member countries have the ability and responsibility to safeguard the security of the Central Asian region, and calls on Western countries to leave Central Asia. That is the most noticeable signal given by the Summit to the world".<ref>{{citation | url = http://en.people.cn/200507/08/eng20050708_194907.html | title = Opinion: SCO sends strong signals for West to leave Central Asia | work = People's Daily | date = 8 July 2008 | author = People's Daily Online | access-date = 11 June 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160809060939/http://en.people.cn/200507/08/eng20050708_194907.html | archive-date = 9 August 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref>
==See also==
* [[NATO]]
* [[Collective Security Treaty Organization|CSTO]]
* [[Sino-Russian relations]]
* [[GUAM]]


In January 2023, India as SCO chair, invited Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Minister and Chief justice to attend a meeting in Goa in May 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 January 2023 |title=India invites Pak FM Bilawal Bhutto, Chief Justice for SCO meet |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-invites-pak-fm-bilawal-bhutto-chief-justice-for-sco-meet-101674629291592.html |access-date=26 January 2023 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> As of May 2023, [[India–Pakistan relations|India and Pakistan]] continued to spar over terrorism,<ref>{{Cite web |title=India sends Pakistan a message, Russia slams West at SCO meeting |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/India-sends-Pakistan-a-message-Russia-slams-West-at-SCO-meeting |access-date=9 May 2023 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en-GB}}</ref> while Central Asian members [[2022 Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan clashes|Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have erupted in armed conflict]] over border disputes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clash erupts between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan border guards |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/14/clash-erupts-between-kyrgyzstan-and-tajikistan-border-guards |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=Al jazeera |language=en}}</ref> The SCO was not a platform for resolving bilateral issues, and its members were also reluctant to mediate disputes multilaterally.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Limited Role In Easing Tensions Between China and India |language=en-US |work=Jamestown |url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-shanghai-cooperation-organizations-limited-role-in-easing-tensions-between-china-and-india/ |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Alexei |first=Kupriyanov |date=8 December 2020 |title=The SCO and the conflict between India and Pakistan |url=https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/sco-conflict-between-india-pakistan/?amp |publisher=ORF}}</ref> Due to the widely divergent agendas among member states, Indian commentators even called it the "Shanghai Contradiction Organisation".<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Shanghai Contradiction Organisation – Let's call it what it is |url=https://www.moneycontrol.com/europe/news/opinion/sco-shanghai-contradiction-organisation-lets-call-it-what-it-is-10913571.html |access-date=7 July 2023 |website=Moneycontrol}}</ref>
==External links==
* [http://www.sectsco.org/ Official website]
* Official Chinese pages on the SCO from the [http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/topics/sco/t57970.htm Ministry of Foreign Affairs] and [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-06/07/content_1512104.htm Xinhua News]


Members of the SCO remained neutral in the [[Russo-Ukrainian war]], they also strengthened cooperation with the Russian Federation.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Krzysztof Strachota |author2=Katarzyna Chawryło |author3=Michał Bogusz |author4=Marek Menkiszak |title=Against the backdrop of war. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand |date=20 September 2022 |url=https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/analyses/2022-09-20/against-backdrop-war-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-summit |publisher=Centre for Eastern Studies |access-date=2022-09-20}}</ref> Analysis in 2024 points out that the SCO has generally facilitated amicable [[China–Russia relations|China-Russia relations]].<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Garlick |first=Jeremy |title=Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-25231-8}}</ref>{{Rp|page=82}}
'''Discussion'''
* [http://www.chinaeurasia.org/ The China and Eurasia Forum], an independent research institution.
* [http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/publications/CEF_quarterly.htm China and Eurasia Quarterly], academic journal covering China-Central Asia relations and the SCO.


=== Other analysis ===
'''Media'''
A 2015 [[European Parliamentary Research Service]] paper concludes, "The SCO's main achievement thus far is to have offered its members a cooperative forum to balance their conflicting interests and to ease bilateral tensions. It has built up joint capabilities and has agreed on common approaches in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism. However, major shortcomings, such as institutional weaknesses, a lack of common financial funds for the implementation of joint projects and conflicting national interests have prevented the SCO from achieving a higher level of regional cooperation in other areas."<ref>{{cite web |last=Grieger |first=Gisela |date=26 June 2015 |title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/564368/EPRS_BRI(2015)564368_EN.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527103951/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/564368/EPRS_BRI(2015)564368_EN.pdf |archive-date=27 May 2019 |access-date=14 January 2018 |website=European Parliament Think Tank |page=1}}</ref>
* [http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/06/15/iran-thurs.html "Iran urges Central Asian bloc to counter West"]
* [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DC0A3199-8358-441C-9331-24B55D1F1A2E.htm "Iran offers Shanghai bloc energy ties"]
* [http://missions.itu.int/~kazaks/eng/sco/sco02.htm Declaration on the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization]


In perspective with issues with internal conflict and lack of cohesion only exacerbate how ineffective the SCO would be for China globally.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=George |first1=Battams-Scott |title=How Effective Is the SCO as a Tool for Chinese Foreign Policy? |journal=Journal of Eurasian Studies |date=26 February 2019 |url=https://www.e-ir.info/2019/02/26/how-effective-is-the-sco-as-a-tool-for-chinese-foreign-policy/ |publisher=E-International Relations |issn=2053-8626}}</ref>
'''Articles and research'''
* Sznajder, Ariel Pablo, [http://irps.ucsd.edu/assets/004/5367.pdf “China's Shanghai Cooperation Organization Strategy”] University of California Press, May 2006
* Oresman, Matthew, {{PDFlink|[http://www.ndu.edu/ctnsp/tamerlane/Tamerlane-Chapter19.pdf “Beyond the Battle of Talas: China’s Re-emergence in Central Asia”]|4.74&nbsp;[[Mebibyte|MiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 4973126 bytes -->}}, National Defense University Press, August 2004
* Gill, Bates and Oresman, [http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,15/ Matthew, China’s New Journey to the West: Report on China’s Emergence in Central Asia and Implications for U.S. Interests], CSIS Press, August 2003
* Yom, Sean L. (2002). [http://www.asiaquarterly.com/content/view/129/5/ "Power Politics in Central Asia: The Future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization"]. ''Harvard Asia Quarterly'' '''6''' (4) 48-54.
* Stakelbeck, Frederick W., Jr. (8 August 2005). [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=19041 "The Shanghai Cooperation Organization"]. ''FrontPageMagazine.com''.
* Navrozov, Lev. (17 February 2006). [http://www.newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?s=pf&page=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/2/16/170626.shtml "The Sino-Russian 'Shanghai Cooperation Organization'"]{{Dead link|date=August 2008}}. ''NewsMax.com''.
* Daly, John. (19 July 2001). [http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jtsm/jtsm010719_1_n.shtml "'Shanghai Five' expands to combat Islamic radicals"]. ''Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor''.
* Colson, Charles. (5 August 2003). [http://www.rferl.org/features/2003/08/05082003154708.asp "Central Asia: Shanghai Cooperation Organization Makes Military Debut"]. ''Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty''.
* Cohen, Dr. Ariel. (18 July 2001). [http://www.heritage.org/Research/RussiaandEurasia/BG1459.cfm "The Russia-China Friendship and Cooperation Treaty: A Strategic Shift in Eurasia?"]. ''The Heritage Foundation''.
* Cohen, Dr. Ariel. (24 October 2005). [http://www.heritage.org/Research/RussiaandEurasia/hl901.cfm "Competition over Eurasia: Are the U.S. and Russia on a Collision Course?"]. ''The Heritage Foundation''.
* John Keefer Douglas, Matthew B. Nelson, and Kevin Schwartz; {{PDFlink|[http://www.uscc.gov/researchpapers/2006/China_ME_FINAL.pdf “Fueling the Dragon’s Flame: How China’s Energy Demands Affect its Relationships in the Middle East.” ]|162&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 166112 bytes -->}}, United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, October 2006.
* Baris Adibelli. [http://www.barisadibelli.com/ "The Eurasia Strategy of China,"] IQ Publishing House, İstanbul,2007


== Gallery of Heads of State (Members) ==
==References==
<!--WARNING 1: Do not put successors of the current heads of states until he or she takes office.-->
{{reflist|2}}
<!--WARNING 2: This section lists THE LEADERS of the states, NOT THE HEADS of the states. For example, the head of state of India is the President of India; however, the leader of India is the Prime Minister of India. -->
<gallery class="center" widths="150" classes="center">
File:Alexander Lukashenko (2024-05-24) (cropped) 3.jpg|{{flagicon|BLR}} '''[[Belarus|Republic of Belarus]]'''<br />[[Alexander Lukashenko]]<br />[[President of Belarus]]
File:Си Цзиньпин (52817938851).jpg|{{flagicon|PRC}} '''[[China|People's Republic of China]]'''<br />[[Xi Jinping]]<br />[[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP General Secretary]] and [[President of China]]{{efn|name="chinaleader"|The ''de jure'' [[head of government]] of China is the [[Premier of the People's Republic of China|Premier]]. The [[President of the People's Republic of China|President of China]] is legally a [[figurehead|ceremonial office]] and has no real power in China's [[Politics of China|political system]]. However, the [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party]] (''de facto'' leader) has always held this office since 1993 except for the months of [[Succession of power in China|transition]], and the [[paramount leader]] is [[Xi Jinping]].}}
File:President Droupadi Murmu official portrait higher version.jpg|{{flagicon|IND}} '''[[India|Republic of India]]'''<br />[[Droupadi Murmu]]<br />[[President of India]]
File:Masoud Pezeshkian 2024 (A) (cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|IRN}} '''[[Iran|Islamic Republic of Iran]]''' <br />[[Masoud Pezeshkian]]<br />[[President of Iran]]
File:Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (2020-02-01).jpg|{{flagicon|KAZ}} '''[[Kazakhstan|Republic of Kazakhstan]]'''<br />[[Kassym-Jomart Tokayev]]<br />[[President of Kazakhstan]]
File:President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov.jpg|{{flagicon|KGZ}} '''[[Kyrgyzstan|Kyrgyz Republic]]'''<br />[[Sadyr Japarov]]<br />[[President of Kyrgyzstan]]
File:Asif Ali Zardari - 2024 (cropped).jpg|'''{{Flag|Islamic Republic of Pakistan}}''' <br /> [[Asif Ali Zardari]]<br /> [[President of Pakistan]]|alt=Islamic Republic of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari President of Pakistan
File:Vladimir Putin 11-10-2020 (cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|RUS}} '''[[Russia|Russian Federation]]'''<br />[[Vladimir Putin]]<br />[[President of Russia]]
File:Emomali Rahmon 2019.jpg|{{flagicon|TJK}} '''[[Tajikistan|Republic of Tajikistan]]'''<br />[[Emomali Rahmon]]<br />[[President of Tajikistan]]
File:Shavkat Mirziyoyev official portrait (cropped 2).jpg|{{flagicon|UZB}} '''[[Uzbekistan|Republic of Uzbekistan]]'''<br />[[Shavkat Mirziyoyev]]<br />[[President of Uzbekistan]]
</gallery>

== Gallery of Heads of Government (Members) ==
<!--WARNING 1: Do not put successors of the current heads of states until he or she takes office.-->
<!--WARNING 2: This section lists THE LEADERS of the states, NOT THE HEADS of the states. For example, the head of state of India is the President of India; however, the leader of India is the Prime Minister of India. -->
<gallery class="center" widths="150" classes="center">
File:Alexander Lukashenko (2024-05-24) (cropped) 3.jpg|{{flagicon|BLR}} '''[[Belarus|Republic of Belarus]]'''<br />[[Alexander Lukashenko]]<br />[[President of Belarus]]
File:Li Qiang (2024) (cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|PRC}} '''[[China|People's Republic of China]]'''<br />[[Li Qiang]]<br />[[Premier of China|Premier]]
File:Official Photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Potrait.png|{{flagicon|IND}} '''[[India|Republic of India]]'''<br />[[Narendra Modi]]<br />[[Prime Minister of India]]
File:Mohammad Reza Aref in 2024 (1) (cropped) (cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|IRN}} '''[[Iran|Islamic Republic of Iran]]''' <br />[[Mohammad Reza Aref]]<br />[[Vice presidents of Iran|First Vice President of Iran]]
File:Oljas Bektenov (2024-02-06, cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|KAZ}} '''[[Kazakhstan|Republic of Kazakhstan]]'''<br />[[Oljas Bektenov]]<br />[[Prime Minister of Kazakhstan]]
File:President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov.jpg|{{flagicon|KGZ}} '''[[Kyrgyzstan|Kyrgyz Republic]]'''<br />[[Sadyr Japarov]]<br />[[President of Kyrgyzstan]]
File:Shahbaz Sharif in 2022 (cropped).jpg|alt=IslamicRepublicofPakistanShehbaz SharifPrime Minister of Pakistan|'''{{Flag|Islamic Republic of Pakistan}}''' <br /> [[Shehbaz Sharif]] <br /> [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]]
File:Mikhail Mishustin (2024-01-11) cropped.jpg|{{flagicon|RUS}} '''[[Russia|Russian Federation]]'''<br />[[Mikhail Mishustin]]<br />[[Prime Minister of Russia]]
File:Kokhir Rasulzoda (2018-04-19).jpg|{{flagicon|TJK}} '''[[Tajikistan|Republic of Tajikistan]]'''<br />[[Kokhir Rasulzoda]]<br />[[Prime Minister of Tajikistan]]
File:Abdulla Aripov (2021) (cropped).jpg|{{flagicon|UZB}} '''[[Uzbekistan|Republic of Uzbekistan]]'''<br />[[Abdulla Aripov]] [[Prime Minister of Uzbekistan]]
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Politics|Asia|Europe}}
* [[Asia Cooperation Dialogue]]
* [[Asia–Europe Meeting]]
* [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations]]
* [[Belt and Road Initiative]]
* [[Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation]]
* [[BRICS]]
* [[China–Russia relations]]
* [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]]
* [[Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia]]
* [[Continental union]]
* [[Eurasian Economic Union]]
* [[Eurasianism]]
* [[Global East]]
* [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Adıbelli, Barış (2006). "Greater Eurasia Project". Istanbul: IQ Publishing House.
* Adıbelli, Barış (2007). ''Turkey–China Relations since the Ottoman Period''. Istanbul: IQ Publishing House.
* Adıbelli, Barış (2007). ''The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Dream of Turkey''. Istanbul: Cumhuriyet Strateji.
* Adıbelli, Barış (2007). [http://www.barisadibelli.com/ ''The Eurasia Strategy of China'']. Istanbul: IQ Publishing House.
* Adıbelli, Barış (2008). ''The Great Game in Eurasian Geopolitics''. Istanbul: IQ Publishing House.
* Chabal, Pierre (2019), La coopération de Shanghai : conceptualiser la nouvelle Asie, Presses de l'Université de Liège, 308 p; 2019 – [https://pressesuniversitairesdeliege.be/produit/la-cooperation-de-shanghai/ La coopération de Shanghai]
* Chabal, Pierre (2016), [https://web.archive.org/web/20160205211755/http://www.peterlang.com/download/datasheet/90256/datasheet_574297.pdf L'Organisation de Coopération de Shanghai et la construction de "la nouvelle Asie"], Brussels: Peter Lang, 492 p.
* Chabal, Pierre (2015), [https://web.archive.org/web/20160205210548/http://www.peterlang.com/download/datasheet/89167/datasheet_574277.pdf Concurrences Interrégionales Europe-Asie au 21ème siècle], Brussels: Peter Lang, 388 p.
* Cohen, Dr. Ariel. (18 July 2001). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100307024438/http://www.heritage.org/research/russiaandeurasia/bg1459.cfm "The Russia-China Friendship and Cooperation Treaty: A Strategic Shift in Eurasia?"]. [[The Heritage Foundation]].
* Cohen, Dr. Ariel. (24 October 2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100302231849/http://www.heritage.org/Research/RussiaandEurasia/hl901.cfm "Competition over Eurasia: Are the U.S. and Russia on a Collision Course?"]. The Heritage Foundation.
* Colson, Charles. (5 August 2003). [http://www.rferl.org/features/2003/08/05082003154708.asp "Central Asia: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Makes Military Debut"]. ''[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]''.
* Daly, John. (19 July 2001). [http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jtsm/jtsm010719_1_n.shtml "'Shanghai Five' expands to combat Islamic radicals"]. ''[[Jane's Information Group|Jane's]] Terrorism & Security Monitor''.
* Douglas, John Keefer; Matthew B. Nelson, and Kevin Schwartz; {{cite web|url= http://www.uscc.gov/researchpapers/2006/China_ME_FINAL.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121212004708/http://www.uscc.gov/researchpapers/2006/China_ME_FINAL.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 12 December 2012 |title="Fueling the Dragon's Flame: How China's Energy Demands Affect its Relationships in the Middle East". }}&nbsp;{{small|(162&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]])}}, United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission, October 2006.
* Fels, Enrico (2009), ''Assessing Eurasia's Powerhouse. An Inquiry into the Nature of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation'', Winkler Verlag: Bochum. {{ISBN|978-3-89911-107-1}}
* Gill, Bates and Oresman, Matthew. [https://web.archive.org/web/20061129202941/http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,15/ "China's New Journey to the West: Report on China's Emergence in Central Asia and Implications for U.S. Interests"], CSIS Press, August 2003
* Kalra, Prajakti and Saxena, Siddharth [https://web.archive.org/web/20150716174240/http://www.turkishpolicy.com/images/stories/2007-02-centraleurasia/TPQ2007-2-kalra%2Bsaxena.pdf "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Prospects of Development in Eurasia Region"] Turkish Policy Quarterly, Vol 6. No. 2, 2007
* Plater-Zyberk, Henry; Monaghan, Andrew (2014). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep11392 ''Strategic Implications of the Evolving Shanghai Cooperation Organization'']. Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press.
* Oresman, Matthew, {{cite web|url= http://www.ndu.edu/ctnsp/tamerlane/Tamerlane-Chapter19.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100326123906/http://www.ndu.edu/ctnsp/tamerlane/Tamerlane-Chapter19.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 26 March 2010 |title=Beyond the Battle of Talas: China's Re-emergence in Central Asia }}&nbsp;{{small|(4.74&nbsp;[[Mebibyte|MiB]])}}, National Defence University Press, August 2004
* Sznajder, Ariel Pablo, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150615224847/http://irps.ucsd.edu/assets/004/5367.pdf "China's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Strategy"], [[University of California Press]], May 2006
* Yom, Sean L. (2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053738/http://www.asiaquarterly.com/content/view/129/5 "Power Politics in Central Asia: The Future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation"]. ''Harvard Asia Quarterly'' '''6''' (4) 48–54.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}


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Latest revision as of 11:32, 12 December 2024

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Chinese: 上海合作组织
Russian: Шанхайская Организация Сотрудничества
AbbreviationSCO
PredecessorShanghai Five
Formation15 June 2001; 23 years ago (2001-06-15)
TypeMutual security, political, and economic cooperation
Legal statusRegional cooperation forum[1]
HeadquartersBeijing, China (Secretariat)
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (RATS Executive Committee)
Membership

Observers:

Dialogue partners:

Guest attendees:

Official language
Secretary-General
Zhang Ming
Deputy Secretaries-General
  • Shukhrat Sobirzoda
  • Sohail Khan
  • Shri Janesh Kain
  • Nuran Niyazaliyev
  • Nurlan Yermekbayev
  • Oleg Kopylov
RATS
Executive Committee Director
Ruslan Mirzaev
Websitesectsco.org Edit this at Wikidata

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organization established by China and Russia in 2001. It is the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 24% of the area of world (65% of Eurasia)[3] and 42% of the world population. As of 2024, its combined nominal GDP accounts for around 23%, while its GDP based on PPP comprises approximately 36% of the world's total.

The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996 between the People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.[4] In June 2001, the leaders of these nations and Uzbekistan met in Shanghai to announce a new organization with deeper political and economic cooperation. In June 2017, it expanded to eight states, with India and Pakistan. Iran joined the group in July 2023, and Belarus in July 2024. Several countries are engaged as observers or dialogue partners.

The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year. The organization also contains the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

Origins

[edit]

The Shanghai Five

[edit]

The Shanghai Five group was created on 26 April 1996 when the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai.[5]

On 24 April 1997 the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow, Russia.[6] On 20 May 1997 Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed a declaration on a "multipolar world".[7]

Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group occurred in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1998, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 2000. At the Dushanbe summit, members agreed to "oppose intervention in other countries' internal affairs on the reason of 'humanitarianism' and 'protecting human rights;' and support the efforts of one another in safeguarding the five countries' national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and social stability."[4] The Shanghai Five structure helped speed up the members' resolution of border disputes, agree on military deployments in border areas, and address security threats.[8]: 95 

Developing institutional forms

[edit]

In 2001, the annual summit returned to Shanghai and the group was institutionalized.[8]: 95  The five member nations first admitted Uzbekistan in the Shanghai Five mechanism.[8]: 95  On 15 June 2001, all six heads of state signed the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation.[2] From 2001 to 2008, the SCO developed rapidly, establishing a number of permanent bodies and ad hoc initiatives dealing with economic and security matters.[8]: 95 

In June 2002, the heads of the SCO member states met in Saint Petersburg, Russia and signed the SCO Charter which expounded on the organisation's purposes, principles, structures and forms of operation. It entered into force on 19 September 2003.[9]

In July 2005, at the summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, with representatives of India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan attending an SCO summit for the first time, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of the Kazakhstan, greeted the guests in words that had never been used before in any context: "The leaders of the states sitting at this negotiation table are representatives of half of humanity".[10]

By 2007, the SCO had initiated over twenty large-scale projects related to transportation, energy and telecommunications and held regular meetings of security, military, defence, foreign affairs, economic, cultural, banking, and other officials from its member states.[11]

In July 2015, in Ufa, Russia, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. In June 2016 in Tashkent, both signed the memorandum of obligations, thereby starting the process of joining the SCO.[12] In June 2017, at a summit in Kazakhstan, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full members.[13][14]

In 2004, the SCO established relations with the United Nations (where it is an observer in the General Assembly), the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2005, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2005, the Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2007, the Economic Cooperation Organization in 2007, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2011, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in 2014, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in 2015.[15] in 2018, SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) has established relations with the African Union's African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT).[16]

Organisational structure

[edit]

As of 2020, the Council of Heads of State was the top decision-making body in the SCO, meeting at the annual SCO summits in one of the member states' capital cities. Because of their government structure, the prime ministers of the parliamentary democracies of India and Pakistan attend the SCO Council of Heads of State summits, as their responsibilities are similar to the presidents of other SCO nations.[17]

As of the 4 July 2023 meeting, the Council of Heads of State consists of:[18]

The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organisation. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation and approves the organisation's budget.[19] As of the 1 November 2022 meeting, Council of Heads of Government consists of:[20]

As of 2007, the Council of Foreign Ministers also held regular meetings, where they discussed the current international situation and interaction with other international organisations.[22] As of 2021, the Council of National Coordinators coordinated the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO's charter.[23]

Directors of SCO RATS Executive Committee
Years in office Name
15 June 2004 – 2006 Uzbekistan Vyacheslav Kasymov
2007–2009 Kyrgyzstan Myrzakan Subanov
2010–2012 Kazakhstan Dzhenisbek Dzhumanbekov
2013–2015 China Zhang Xinfeng
2016–2018 Russia Yevgeniy Sysoev
2019–2021 Tajikistan Jumakhon Giyosov
2022–present Uzbekistan Ruslan Mirzaev
Heads of SCO Secretariat
Years in office Name
Executive Secretary
15 January 2004 – 2006 China Zhang Deguang
Secretaries-General
2007–2009 Kazakhstan Bolat Nurgaliyev
2010–2012 Kyrgyzstan Muratbek Imanaliyev
2013–2015 Russia Dmitry Mezentsev
2016–2018 Tajikistan Rashid Alimov
2019–2021 Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov
2022–present China Zhang Ming

The Secretariat of the SCO, headquartered in Beijing, China, is the primary executive body of the organisation. It serves to implement organisational decisions and decrees, drafts proposed documents (such as declarations and agendas), function as a document depository for the organisation, arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates information about the SCO. The SCO Secretary-General is elected to a three-year term.[24] Zhang Ming of China became the current Secretary-General on 1 January 2022.[24]

The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee, headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The Director of SCO RATS Executive Committee is elected to a three-year term. Ruslan Mirzaev of Uzbekistan became the current Director on 1 January 2022. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.[25]

The official languages of the SCO are Chinese and Russian.[2]

Membership

[edit]
Establishment of S5
Establishment of SCO
China
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Russia
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
India
Pakistan
Iran
Belarus
Mongolia
Sri Lanka
Turkey
Cambodia
Azerbaijan
Nepal
Armenia
Egypt
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Kuwait
Maldives
Myanmar
UAE
Bahrain
Afghanistan (Islamic Republic)
 
 
 
 
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
  Member      Observer      Dialogue partner

Member states

[edit]
MaldivesBangladeshBhutanNepalSri LankaIndiaMyanmarThailandCambodiaLaosVietnamBruneiIndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeAfghanistanPakistanTurkmenistanIranAzerbaijanKazakhstanUzbekistanKyrgyzstanTajikistanChinaRussiaTurkeyJapanMongoliaSouth KoreaBahrainKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesSouth Asian Association for Regional CooperationBay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic CooperationMekong–Ganga CooperationAssociation of Southeast Asian NationsShanghai Cooperation OrganisationOrganization of Turkic StatesEconomic Cooperation OrganizationGulf Cooperation CouncilAsia Cooperation Dialogue
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various Asian regional organisations vde
Country Accession started Member since
 China 15 June 2001[a]
 Kazakhstan
 Kyrgyzstan
 Russia
 Tajikistan
 Uzbekistan
 India 10 June 2015 9 June 2017
 Pakistan
 Iran 17 September 2021 4 July 2023[28]
 Belarus 16 September 2022 4 July 2024[29]

Observer states

[edit]
Country Status granted
 Mongolia 2004[30]
 Afghanistan[b] 7 June 2012[32] (Inactive since September 2021)

Former observers
 India 5 July 2005[30]
 Pakistan
 Iran
 Belarus 2015[30]

Dialogue partners

[edit]

The status of dialogue partner was created in 2008.[33]

Country Status approved Status granted[c]
 Sri Lanka 15 or 16 June 2009[34][35] 6 May 2010[36]
 Turkey 7 June 2012[32] 26 April 2013[37]
 Cambodia 10 July 2015[38] 24 September 2015[39]
 Azerbaijan 14 March 2016[40]
   Nepal 22 March 2016[41]
 Armenia 16 April 2016[42]
 Egypt 16 September 2021 14 September 2022[43][44]
 Qatar
 Saudi Arabia
 Kuwait 16 September 2022[44] 5 May 2023[45]
 Maldives
 Myanmar
 United Arab Emirates
 Bahrain 15 July 2023[46][47]

Former dialogue partners
 Belarus 15 or 16 June 2009 28 April 2010

Guest attendances

[edit]

Multiple international organisations and one country are guest attendances to SCO summits.

Turkmenistan has previously declared itself a permanently neutral country, which was recognized by a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1995,[48] thus ostensibly precluding its membership in the SCO.[49] At the same time, Turkmenistan is a member of the Economic Cooperation Organization since 1992 and an observer of the Organization of Turkic States since 2021. Turkmenistan's head of state has been attending SCO summits since 2007 as a guest attendee.

Future membership possibilities

[edit]
Country Status applied for Date
 Bangladesh Observer 2012[50][51]
 Syria Dialogue partner[d] 2015[52][53]
 Israel Dialogue partner 2016[52]
 Iraq Dialogue partner 2019[54]
 Algeria Observer July 2023[55][56]
 Laos Dialogue partner 2024[57]

In 2010, the SCO approved a procedure for admitting new members.[58] In 2011, Turkey applied for dialogue partner status,[59] which it obtained in 2013. At the same time, Turkey is a NATO member and the European Union candidate country. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated that he has discussed the possibility of abandoning Turkey's candidacy of accession to the European Union in return for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.[60] This was reinforced again on 21 November 2016, after the European Parliament voted unanimously to suspend accession negotiations with Turkey.[61] Two days later, on 23 November 2016, Turkey was granted the chairmanship of SCO energy club for the 2017 period. That made Turkey the first country to chair a club in the organisation without full membership status. In 2022, at the 22nd summit of the SCO, the Turkish president said that Turkey would seek full SCO membership status.[62] On 11 July 2024, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in a statement to the U.S. Newsweek magazine that they did not consider Turkey's membership in NATO as an alternative to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS.[63]

In 2011, Vietnam expressed interest in obtaining observer status (but has not applied for it).[59]

In 2012, Ukraine expressed interest in obtaining observer status. However, since the deposition of President Viktor Yanukovych and increased tensions with Russia, no application has been submitted and there are no current plans to incorporate Ukraine into the organization.[64][65]

Azerbaijan expects to receive observer status according to Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada. Azerbaijan will probably become a full member of the SCO in a little while, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said during his meeting with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on 3 July 2024 in Astana.[66][67]

Activities

[edit]

Cooperation on security

[edit]

As of 2023, the SCO is primarily centered on security-related concerns, describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism. It has addressed regional human trafficking and weapons trafficking and created terrorist blacklists.[8]: 96 

At SCO summit, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 16–17 June 2004, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was established. On 21 April 2006, the SCO announced plans to fight cross-border drug crimes under the counter-terrorism rubric.[68]

In October 2007, the SCO signed an agreement with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.[69]

As of 2010, the organisation was opposing cyberwarfare, saying that the dissemination of information "harmful to the spiritual, moral and cultural spheres of other states" should be considered a "security threat". An accord adopted in 2009 defined "information war", in part, as an effort by a state to undermine another's "political, economic, and social systems".[70] The Diplomat reported in 2017 that SCO has foiled 600 terror plots and extradited 500 terrorists through RATS.[71] The 36th meeting of the Council of the RATS decided to hold a joint anti-terror exercise, Pabbi-Antiterror-2021, in Pakistan in 2021.[72]

At the summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, in July 2024, the SCO called for the creation of a fair, multipolar world order based on the key role of the United Nations, international law and the aspiration of sovereign states towards a mutually beneficial partnership.[73]

Military activities

[edit]
SCO leaders at Peace Mission 2007. Hu Jintao, Vladimir Putin, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Islam Karimov

As of 2009, the organisation's activities expanded to include increased military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counterterrorism.[74] At the same time, leaders of SCO states repeatedly stated that the SCO was not a military alliance.[75]

As of 2023, the SCO had not provided military support in any actual conflicts.[8]: 100  However, as of 2017, military exercises have regularly been conducted among members to promote cooperation and coordination against terrorism and other external threats, and to maintain regional peace and stability.[2] There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China. Since then China and Russia have teamed up for large-scale war games in Peace Mission 2005, Peace Mission 2007 and Peace Mission 2009, under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. More than 4,000 soldiers participated at the joint military exercises in Peace Mission 2007, which took place in Chelyabinsk, Russia near the Ural Mountains, as was agreed upon in April 2006 at a meeting of SCO Defence Ministers.[76][77] In 2010, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said that the exercises would be transparent and open to media and the public. Following the war games' successful completion, Russian officials began speaking of India joining such exercises in the future and the SCO taking on a military role. Peace Mission 2010, conducted 9–25 September at Kazakhstan's Matybulak training area, saw over 5,000 personnel from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conduct joint planning and operational maneuvers.[78]

The SCO has served as a platform for larger military announcements by members. During the 2007 war games in Russia, with leaders of SCO member states in attendance including Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russia's President Vladimir Putin used the occasion to take advantage of a captive audience. Russian strategic bombers, he said, would resume regular long-range patrols for the first time since the Cold War. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on the strategic scale", Putin said. "Our pilots have been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new life".[79][80]

In June 2014, in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, the idea was brought up to merge the SCO with the Collective Security Treaty Organization. However, as of late 2022, in the wake of Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many SCO and even CSTO members had distanced themselves from military cooperation with Russia.[81]

Economic cooperation

[edit]

In September 2003, a Framework Agreement to enhance economic cooperation was signed by the SCO member states. At the same meeting the Premier of China, Wen Jiabao, proposed a long-term objective to establish a free trade area in the SCO, while other more immediate measures would be taken to improve the flow of goods in the region.[82][83] A follow-up plan with 100 specific actions was signed one year later, on 23 September 2004.[84]

In October 2005, during the Moscow Summit of the SCO, the Secretary General of the Organisation said that the SCO would prioritise joint energy projects; including in the oil and gas sector, the exploration of new hydrocarbon reserves, and joint use of water resources. The creation of the SCO Interbank Consortium was also agreed upon in order to fund future joint projects. In February 2006, the first meeting of the SCO Interbank Association was held in Beijing.[85][86] In November 2006, at The SCO: Results and Perspectives, an international conference held in Almaty, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia was developing plans for an SCO "Energy Club".[87] in November 2007, Moscow reiterated the need for this "energy club" at an SCO summit. Other SCO members, however, did not commit themselves to the idea.[88] During the 2008 summit it was stated that "Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth of world economy pursuing a responsible currency and financial policy, control over the capital flowing, ensuring food and energy security have been gaining special significance".[89][failed verification]

At the 2007 SCO summit, Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoodi addressed an initiative that had been garnering greater interest when he said, "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a good venue for designing a new banking system which is independent from international banking systems".[90][better source needed]

President Putin included these comments:

We now clearly see the defectiveness of the monopoly in world finance and the policy of economic selfishness. To solve the current problem Russia will take part in changing the global financial structure so that it will be able to guarantee stability and prosperity in the world and to ensure progress.
The world is seeing the emergence of a qualitatively different geo-political situation, with the emergence of new centers of economic growth and political influence.
We will witness and take part in the transformation of the global and regional security and development architectures adapted to new realities of the 21st century, when stability and prosperity are becoming inseparable notions.[91]

Leaders present at the SCO summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009

In June 2009, at the Yekaterinburg Summit, China announced plans to provide a US$10 billion loan to other SCO member states to shore up the struggling economies of its members amid the global financial crisis.[92] 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.[93]

In 2014, the Eurasian Economic Union was founded in which Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are members.

During the 2019 Bishkek summit, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan suggested taking steps to trade in local currencies instead of U.S. dollars and setting up financial institutions including an SCO bank.[94]

In June 2022, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari suggested creating a single SCO currency to facilitate trade and financial transactions among SCO members.[95]

During 19–22 October 2022, Iran hosted SCOCOEX, an international conference and exhibition on economic cooperation opportunities available to the SCO member states and partners.[96]

As part of the SCO's economic agenda, it has established a relatively successful student exchange program called the SCO University.[8]: 95 

Cultural cooperation

[edit]

Culture ministers of the SCO met for the first time in Beijing on 12 April 2002, signing a joint statement for continued cooperation. The third meeting of the Culture Ministers took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 27–28 April 2006.[97][98]

An SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was held for the first time during the Astana Summit in 2005. Kazakhstan suggested an SCO folk dance festival to take place in 2008, in Astana.[99]

SCO+

[edit]

The SCO+ forum format was initiated by the United Russia party in October 2020. This format includes inter-party interaction not only of the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (members, observers, candidates) but also of the CIS and BRICS countries.

It was first used during the SCO+ international inter-party forum "Economy for People" on 22–23 October 2020.[100] The forum was attended by speakers from 25 countries, including the chairman of the United Russia party, Dmitry Medvedev, ministers of the SCO countries, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and ambassadors and diplomats of the CIS and BRICS countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent greetings to the forum participants.[101]

Summits

[edit]

According to the Charter of the SCO, summits of the Council of Heads of State shall be held annually at alternating venues. The locations of these summits follow the alphabetical order of the member state's name in Russian.[102] The charter also dictates that the Council of Heads of Government (that is, the Prime Ministers) shall meet annually in a place decided upon by the council members. The Council of Foreign Ministers is supposed to hold a summit one month before the annual summit of Heads of State. Extraordinary meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers can be called by any two member states.[102]

Summit of Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) in 2007
Heads of state of member states at the 2018 summit in Qingdao, Shandong, China
Heads of states and governments of the member states at the 2019 summit
Heads of states and governments of the member states at the 2022 summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

List of summits

[edit]
Summits of heads of state
Date Country Location
14–15 June 2001  China Shanghai
7 June 2002  Russia Saint Petersburg
29 May 2003  Russia Moscow
17 June 2004  Uzbekistan Tashkent
5 July 2005  Kazakhstan Astana
15 June 2006  China Shanghai
16 August 2007  Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
28 August 2008  Tajikistan Dushanbe
15–16 June 2009  Russia Yekaterinburg
10–11 June 2010  Uzbekistan Tashkent[103]
14–15 June 2011  Kazakhstan Astana[104]
6–7 June 2012  China Beijing
13 September 2013  Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
11–12 September 2014  Tajikistan Dushanbe
9–10 July 2015  Russia Ufa
23–24 June 2016  Uzbekistan Tashkent[105]
8–9 June 2017  Kazakhstan Astana
9–10 June 2018 [zh]  China Qingdao
14–15 June 2019  Kyrgyzstan Bishkek[106]
10 November 2020  Russia videoconference[107]
16–17 September 2021  Tajikistan Dushanbe[108]
15–16 September 2022  Uzbekistan Samarkand
4 July 2023  India videoconference[109][110]
3–4 July 2024  Kazakhstan Astana
2025  China TBA
Summits of heads of government
Date Country Location
14 September 2001  Kazakhstan Almaty
23 September 2003  China Beijing
23 September 2004  Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
26 October 2005  Russia Moscow
15 September 2006  Tajikistan Dushanbe
2 November 2007  Uzbekistan Tashkent
30 October 2008  Kazakhstan Astana
14 October 2009  China Beijing[111]
25 November 2010  Tajikistan Dushanbe[112]
7 November 2011  Russia Saint Petersburg
5 December 2012  Kyrgyzstan Bishkek[113]
29 November 2013  Uzbekistan Tashkent
14–15 December 2014  Kazakhstan Astana
14–15 December 2015  China Zhengzhou
2–3 November 2016  Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
30 November 2017  Russia Sochi
11–12 October 2018  Tajikistan Dushanbe
1–2 November 2019  Uzbekistan Tashkent
30 November 2020  India videoconference
25 November 2021  Kazakhstan videoconference
1 November 2022  China videoconference
26 Oсtober 2023  Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
15–16 October 2024  Pakistan Islamabad[114][115]
2025  China TBA

Analysis

[edit]

Relations with the West

[edit]

The United States applied for observer status in the SCO, but was rejected in 2005.[116]

At the Astana summit in July 2005, with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq foreshadowing an indefinite presence of U.S. forces in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the SCO requested the U.S. to set a clear timetable for withdrawing its troops from SCO member states. Shortly afterwards, Uzbekistan requested the U.S. leave the K2 air base.[117]

A report in 2007 noted that the SCO has made no direct comments against the U.S. or its military presence in the region; however, some indirect statements at the past summits have been viewed by Western media outlets as "thinly veiled swipes at Washington".[118]

From 2001 to 2008, the Western reaction to the SCO was generally skepticism of the organization's goals.[8]: 95  By the 2010s, however, the West increasingly began to view the SCO as a potential contributor to stability in the region, particularly with regards to Afghanistan.[8]: 96 

In September 2023, the United Nations approved United Nations resolution A/77/L.107, titled "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization." The result of the vote was 80 in favour to 2 against with 47 abstentions.[119][120] The United States and Israel were the only countries to vote against the resolution.

Although the European Council on Foreign Relations dubbed the SCO an "anti NATO alliance" in 2022,[121] apparent inconsistencies among its member states have prevented it from becoming an effective geopolitical alliance.[122] As of July 2023, India and Central Asian countries maintained friendly cooperation with both the West and Russia, India has had fierce conflicts with Pakistan and its ally China at the same time, which has been limiting the possibility of China and Russia forming the group into an anti-Western bloc.[123] Academics Simon Curtis and Ian Klaus write that although SCO has sometimes been compared to NATO, unlike NATO, SCO does not create a collective security alliance.[124]

Geopolitical aspects

[edit]
SCO summit in Ufa, Russia in 2015
SCO and NATO Member States

At a 2005 summit in Kazakhstan the SCO issued a Declaration of Heads of Member States of the SCO which said: "The heads of the member states point out that, against the backdrop of a contradictory process of globalisation, multilateral cooperation, which is based on the principles of equal right and mutual respect, non-intervention in internal affairs of sovereign states, non-confrontational way of thinking and consecutive movement towards democratisation of international relations, contributes to overall peace and security, and call upon the international community, irrespective of its differences in ideology and social structure, to form a new concept of security based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and interaction."[125]

In November 2005 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is working to establish a rational and just world order" and that "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation provides us with a unique opportunity to take part in the process of forming a fundamentally new model of geopolitical integration".[126]

In 2007, Matthew Brummer tracked the implications of SCO expansion into the Persian Gulf.[127][full citation needed] In 2008, one aim of SCO was to ensure that liberal democracy could not gain ground in these countries, according to political scientist Thomas Ambrosio.[128] In 2016, political scientist Thomas Fingar wrote that China took the lead in establishing the Shanghai Five primarily to limit Russia's ability to reassert its influence in Central Asia.[129]

During the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, China opposed Russia's infringement on Georgia's sovereignty.[130]: 347  Citing principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and global order, China used its influence in the SCO to prevent the organization from supporting Russia.[130]: 347 

In 2008, Iranian writer Hamid Golpira had this to say on the topic: "According to Zbigniew Brzezinski's theory, control of the Eurasian landmass is the key to global domination and control of Central Asia is the key to control of the Eurasian landmass....Russia and China have been paying attention to Brzezinski's theory, since they formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001, ostensibly to curb extremism in the region and enhance border security, but most probably with the real objective of counterbalancing the activities of the United States and the rest of the NATO alliance in Central Asia".[131]

In 2008, the People's Daily wrote: "The Declaration points out that the SCO member countries have the ability and responsibility to safeguard the security of the Central Asian region, and calls on Western countries to leave Central Asia. That is the most noticeable signal given by the Summit to the world".[132]

In January 2023, India as SCO chair, invited Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Minister and Chief justice to attend a meeting in Goa in May 2023.[133] As of May 2023, India and Pakistan continued to spar over terrorism,[134] while Central Asian members Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have erupted in armed conflict over border disputes.[135] The SCO was not a platform for resolving bilateral issues, and its members were also reluctant to mediate disputes multilaterally.[136][137] Due to the widely divergent agendas among member states, Indian commentators even called it the "Shanghai Contradiction Organisation".[138]

Members of the SCO remained neutral in the Russo-Ukrainian war, they also strengthened cooperation with the Russian Federation.[139] Analysis in 2024 points out that the SCO has generally facilitated amicable China-Russia relations.[140]: 82 

Other analysis

[edit]

A 2015 European Parliamentary Research Service paper concludes, "The SCO's main achievement thus far is to have offered its members a cooperative forum to balance their conflicting interests and to ease bilateral tensions. It has built up joint capabilities and has agreed on common approaches in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism. However, major shortcomings, such as institutional weaknesses, a lack of common financial funds for the implementation of joint projects and conflicting national interests have prevented the SCO from achieving a higher level of regional cooperation in other areas."[141]

In perspective with issues with internal conflict and lack of cohesion only exacerbate how ineffective the SCO would be for China globally.[142]

[edit]
[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five mechanism since 26 April 1996. Uzbekistan was included in the Shanghai Five mechanism on 14 June 2001.[26] The six states then signed a declaration establishing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on 15 June 2001.[27]
  2. ^ Since the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, Taliban representatives have not been participating in SCO meetings.[31]
  3. ^ A country officially becomes a SCO dialogue partner after its minister of foreign affairs and SCO Secretary-General sign a memorandum granting the status.
  4. ^ Syria has initially applied for observer status, but "it was explained that first it is necessary to become a dialogue partner of the organization".[52]
  5. ^ The de jure head of government of China is the Premier. The President of China is legally a ceremonial office and has no real power in China's political system. However, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (de facto leader) has always held this office since 1993 except for the months of transition, and the paramount leader is Xi Jinping.

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Further reading

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