Riyadh joins SCO

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation established in 2001.
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.
In 2021, the decision was made to start the accession process of Iran to the SCO as a full member.
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 organisation.
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.

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet has approved a decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a dialogue partner.
Dialogue partner status will be a first step within the organisation before granting the kingdom full membership in the mid-term.

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