India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar arrives in Islamabad, Pakistan to address the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting and is expected to repeat concerns raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at past SCO summits over terrorism and extremism in the region, as well as connectivity and transit issues.
Source: The Hindu
About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):
It is a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defense organization established by China and Russia in 2001.
It is the world\'s largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 24% of the area of the world (65% of Eurasia) and 42% of the world population.
As of 2024, its combined nominal GDP accounts for around 23%, while its GDP based on PPP comprises approximately 36% of the world\'s total.
The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996 between the People\'s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
In June 2001, Uzbekistan joined it.
In June 2017, it expanded to eight states, with India and Pakistan.
Iran joined the group in July 2023, and Belarus in July 2024.
The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year.
The organization also contains the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).
As of 2023, the SCO is primarily centered on security-related concerns, describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism. It has addressed regional human trafficking and weapons trafficking and created terrorist blacklists.
Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS):
It is a permanent body of the SCO and is intended to facilitate coordination and interaction between the SCO member states in the fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism.
The main functions of SCO-RATS are coordination and information sharing.
As a member, India has actively participated in the activities of SCO-RATS.
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