India takes over SCO rotating presidency

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation established in 2001.
It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
Prior to the creation of SCO in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five.
Following the accession of Uzbekistan to the organisation in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
There are eight member states in the SCO at present. India and Pakistan became members in 2017.
The SCO Secretariat, based in Beijing, is the main permanent executive body of the SCO.
The organisation has two permanent bodies —
- the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and
- the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent. RATS serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

To strengthen mutual trust among the neighbouring member states.
To promote effective cooperation in various fields like economy, trade, politics, culture and research and technology.
To ensure peace, prosperity, security and stability in the region, and
To establish a democratic, fair and rational international eco-political order.

The rotational presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been handed over to India in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Delhi will hold the presidency of the grouping for a year until September 2023.
The leaders of the SCO Member States signed the Samarkand Declaration in the meeting of the Council of Heads of State.
The Member States noted the various global challenges and threats including technological and digital divide, continued turbulence in global financial markets, instability in supply chains, increased protectionist measures and uncertainty in the global economy.
Member States also highlighted the impacts of global climate change and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which posed additional challenges to economic growth, social well-being and food security. The leaders stressed on the need of adopting new approaches to promote more equitable and effective international cooperation and sustainable economic development.

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