SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Introduction

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
This is the fundamental statutory document which outlines the organization’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.

The historical meeting of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held on 8-9 June 2017 in Astana. On the meeting, the status of a full member of the Organization was granted to the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 1)

The SCO covers one of the largest geographical areas of any regional organization. The member states occupy a territory of around 30 million 189 thousand square kilometers, which makes up about three-fifths of the Eurasian continent. The region extends from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok and from the White Sea to the South China Sea.
If its observer states are included, its dimension’s extend to the Indian Ocean and the Middle East as well. Its members and observers collectively possess 17.5 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, 47–50 percent of known natural gas reserves and have a population of 1.5 billion, which makes up a quarter of the entire planet’s population.

SCO’s Main Goals

SCO’s main goals are as follows:

strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states;

promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas;

making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security, and stability in the region;

and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

SCO’s Policy Principles

Proceeding from the Shanghai Spirit, the SCO pursues its internal policy based on the principles of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, mutual consultations, respect for cultural diversity, and a desire for common development, while its external policy is conducted in accordance with the principles of non-alignment, non-targeting any third country, and openness.

SCO Organization

The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO. It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organization.

The SCO Heads of Government Council (HGC) meets once a year to discuss the organization’s multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas, to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues, and also to approve the organization’s annual budget.

The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

In addition to HSC and HGC meetings, there is also a mechanism of meetings at the level of heads of parliament; secretaries of Security Councils; ministers of foreign affairs, defence, emergency relief, economy, transport, culture, education, and healthcare; heads of law enforcement agencies and supreme and arbitration courts; and prosecutors general.

The Council of National Coordinators of SCO Member States (CNC) acts as the SCO coordination mechanism.

The organization has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.

The SCO Secretary-General and the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS are appointed by the Council of Heads of State for a term of three years. Rashid Alimov (Tajikistan) and Yevgeny Sysoyev (Russia) have held these positions, respectively, since 1 January 2016.

Membership

The SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;

The SCO counts four observer states, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Mongolia;

The SCO has six dialogue partners, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

History of SCO

The creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was proclaimed on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Prior to that, all of the above countries, except for Uzbekistan, were members of the Shanghai Five, a political association based on the Agreement on Confidence-Building in the Military Field in the Border Area (Shanghai, 1996) and the Agreement on the Mutual Reduction of Armed Forces in the Border Area (Moscow, 1997).

These two documents laid down a mechanism of mutual trust in the military sphere in the border area and contributed to the establishment of true partnerships.

Following the accession of Uzbekistan to the organisation in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.

Initially, the SCO focused on mutual intraregional efforts to curb terrorism, separatism and extremism in Central Asia.

The Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was signed at the St.Petersburg Summit of the Heads of State of the SCO in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.

It is a fundamental constituent document stipulating the objectives and principles of the Organisation, its structure and its primary areas of activities. In addition, the SCO plans to combat international drug trafficking as a source of financing global terrorism were announced in 2006; in 2008, the Organisation actively participated in normalising the situation in Afghanistan.

At the same time, the SCO took up a variety of economic activities.

In September 2003, the heads of the SCO member states signed a 20-year Programme of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation. As a long-term goal, the programme provides for the establishment of a free trade zone within the territory under the SCO member states; in the short run, it seeks to reinvigorate the process of creating favourable environment for trade and investment.

The historical meeting of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held on 8-9 June 2017 in Astana. On the meeting the status of a full member of the Organization was granted to the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Significance of SCO

In the last few years, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has emerged as an important actor on the international platform.

It not only brings together the two Eurasian giants, China and Russia but also comprises of members who have been granted either observer status or have been labeled as dialogue partners.

Outside of its participant countries, the organization has mainly attracted critics who question the organization’s viability and the democratic credentials of its members. A number of Western scholars view the SCO as a counter to American interests.

Major Jefferson of the United States Air Force has described the SCO as an “enigma… a security organization, a regional forum, an anti-terrorism coalition” and “…as a Russian and Chinese led alliance created to counter U.S. hegemony”.

Some scholars have run parallels with the Warsaw Pact and even labeled the organization as a “NATO of the East”.

Regional Connectivity – Russian scholar Mikhail Troitsky describes the SCO as a platform for shared security concerns and a legitimate channel for influencing regional politics.

It showcases that a viable Euroasian integration order is not just a fantasy. This ‘integration’ includes, among other things, development of infrastructure and possible coordination of regional politics. It also serves the purpose of maintaining the domestic status quo in Central Asian countries.

The RATS – The Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is the permanent body of the SCO. The SCO prioritizes the following security challenges: terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism, but containment of Islamist rebel groups capable of acts of terror is the most relevant for all. To address the threat, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was established in 2004.

The other threats that the SCO treat with increasing seriousness are drug trafficking, organized crime, energy security, and health epidemic security.

The Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure operates in accordance with the SCO Charter, the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism, the Agreement among the SCO member states on the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure, as well as documents and decisions adopted in the SCO framework.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is already in its implementation stage.

This mega project will open up economic zones and build up networks of transportation throughout Pakistan. The CPEC will play the role of economic arteries.

Increased trade and investment will pass through not only from China but through all SCO member states.