• Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), held in Tianjin, China, from August 31 to September 1. 

• The Summit witnessed productive discussions on SCO Development Strategy, reform of global governance, counter-terrorism, peace and security, economic and financial cooperation, and sustainable development.

Key points of PM’s address:

• Addressing the Summit, PM Modi highlighted India’s approach to strengthening cooperation under the SCO framework. 

• In this regard, he noted that India seeks greater action under three pillars – Security, Connectivity and Opportunity. 

• Emphasising that peace, security and stability remain key to progress and prosperity, he called upon member countries to take firm and decisive action to fight terrorism in all its manifestations. 

• PM Modi underlined the need for coordinated action against terror financing and radicalisation. 

• The Pahalgam terror attack was an open challenge to every nation believing in humanity and “double standards” on terrorism is unacceptable, he said.

• He also congratulated Kyrgyzstan on taking over the next presidency of SCO. 

Other highlights of the summit:

• At the conclusion of the Summit, the SCO Member countries adopted the Tianjin Declaration.

• Agreements were signed between SCO member states on the SCO Anti-Drug Center and on the Universal Center for Countering Challenges and Threats to the Security of SCO Member States.

• A decision was taken to grant the Lao People’s Democratic Republic the status of SCO Dialogue Partner and to grant SCO Observer status with the Commonwealth of Independent States.

• The city of Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan was designated the “Tourist and Cultural Capital of the SCO” for 2025–2026.

What is the SCO?

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organisation founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. It was founded by the presidents of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

• These countries, except for Uzbekistan, had been members of the Shanghai Five group, formed on April 26, 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions.

• The SCO Charter was signed during the St Petersburg heads of state meeting in June 2002 and entered into force on September 19, 2003. This is the fundamental statutory document which outlines the organisation’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.

• 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 is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.

Members of SCO

• The SCO currently comprises ten member states (China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus). 

• Other observer states interested in acceding to full membership are Afghanistan and Mongolia. 

• There are 14 dialogue partners — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Sri Lanka.

• India, Iran and Pakistan were admitted as observers at the 2005 summit. On June 9, 2017, at the historic summit in Astana, India and Pakistan officially joined the SCO as full-fledged members.

• In July 2023, Iran became a permanent member of the SCO at an India-hosted virtual summit of the grouping.

• The SCO has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat in Beijing and Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent. 

• The chairmanship of the SCO is by rotation for a year by the Member States.

The SCO’s main goals are:

• Strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the Member States.

• Promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, economy, research, technology, culture, education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection and other areas.

• Making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.

• Moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

India and the SCO

• India was made an observer at the July 2005 Astana Summit and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping, which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.

• India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.

• India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.