Saudi Arabia Joins Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a Dialogue Partner

Saudi Arabia has agreed to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a “dialogue partner

Key Points On Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• Joining the SCO was discussed during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia last December
• Other countries with either observer or dialogue partner status include Egypt, Iran and Qatar.
• Riyadh’s move to partner with the bloc also came less than three weeks after the unveiling of a landmark China-brokered reconciliation deal with Iran to restore full diplomatic relations that were severed seven years ago.
• China’s role in the deal raised eyebrows given Saudi Arabia’s traditionally close partnership with the US
• Though that relationship has been under strain recently because of disputes over human rights and oil production.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Background Of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the then security and economic architecture in the Eurasian region dissolved and new structures had to come up.
• The original Shanghai Five were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
• 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 organisation’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.

Goals Of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

The SCO’s main goals are as follows:

• strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states;
• promoting their effective cooperation inpolitics, 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.

Meetings Of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• 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.

Bodies Of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (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.
• 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.
• SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming

Members Of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

The SCO comprises eight member states, namely

1. the Republic of India, 
2. the Republic of Kazakhstan,
3. the People’s Republic of China,
4. the Kyrgyz Republic,
5. the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
6. the Russian Federation,
7. the Republic of Tajikistan, and
8. the Republic of Uzbekistan

India And Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• India and Pakistan both were observer countries.
• While Central Asian countries and China were not in favor of expansion initially, the main supporter — of India’s entry in particular — was Russia.
• A widely held view is that Russia’s growing unease about an increasingly powerful China prompted it to push for its expansion.
• From 2009 onwards, Russia officially supported India’s ambition to join the SCO in 2017.
• China then asked for its all-weather friend Pakistan’s entry

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