What is SCO?

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was built on the ‘Shanghai Five’ grouping of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which had come together in the post-Soviet era in 1996, in order to work on regional security, reduction of border troops, and terrorism. In 2001, the Shanghai Five inducted Uzbekistan into the group and named it the SCO. 
• India and Pakistan joined the SCO as observers in 2005, and were admitted as full members in 2017. Iran joined SCO as its ninth member in 2023.
• Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia enjoy Observer status in the SCO, while six other countries — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka — have Dialogue Partner status.
• The organization has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure in Tashkent.
• The Heads of State Council 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.

What are the main goals of the SCO?

• The SCO describes its main goals as: 
  • strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states; 
  • promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, economy, research and 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. 

Why in News?

• India is likely to participate in the SCO ‘Heads of Government’ meeting that will be held next month. However, the government is yet to decide whether Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the meeting in Islamabad, like in the 2023 meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.