Functions of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China). It is also known as Shanghai pact that created an international alliance to promote political, economic, and security alliance as one of the functions of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

functions of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Secretariat of  SCO

The Secretariat of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is based at Beijing (China). It is the main permanent executive body of the SCO.

Secretary General of SCO

The SCO Secretariat is headed by Secretary General. He is Nominated by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and approved by the Heads of State Council. He is appointed from among citizens of the SCO member states on a rotating basis in Russian alphabetical order for a single three-year term with no possibility of extension. The current Secretary General of SCO is Vladamir Norov (Russia).

Functions of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

The main functions of SCO are:

  • Strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness 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
  • Making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region
  • Establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order

Members of SCO

There are three type of members in SCO:

  • Permanent members: The SCO comprises eight member states:
    1. India
    2. Kazakhstan
    3. China
    4. Kyrgyzstan
    5. Pakistan
    6. Russia
    7. Tajikistan
    8. Uzbekistan
  • Observer States: There are four observer states:
    1. Afghanistan
    2. Belarus
    3. Iran
    4. Mongolia
  • Dialogue Partners: There are six dialogue partners:
    1. Azerbaijan
    2. Armenia
    3. Cambodia
    4. Nepal
    5. Turkey
    6. Sri Lanka

Heads of State Council

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

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

Official language of SCO

The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.

18th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit

The 18th SCO Summit held at Quingdao, China from June 9-10, 2018.

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