SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting

August 24, 2022

Union Minister Rajnath Singh is on a three-day visit to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. During this, he will also take part in the meeting of defense ministers of the countries involved in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Key Points

During this annual meeting, issues of defense cooperation among SCO member states will be discussed and it is expected that a joint communiqué will be issued after the deliberations. Shri Rajnath Singh’s address in this meeting will be on August 24, 2022.

During this, the Defense Minister will meet the Defense Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Lieutenant General Bakhodir Kurbanov. Apart from this, meetings are also scheduled with the Defense Ministers of some other SCO member countries on the sidelines of this meeting, where issues of bilateral and mutual interest will be discussed.

Significantly, the SCO summit is going to be held in Samarkand on 15-16 September. The heads of government of 8 member countries including India, Russia, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are participating in it.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

SCO, also dubbed as Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic & security alliance. Announcement for creating SCO was made on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China. This proposal was put forward by leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Which charter led to creation of SCO?

Shanghai Cooperation Organization Charter was signed in June 2002 that formally established the organization. SCO entered into force on September 19, 2003.

Background

Original five members of SCO; China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; were previously members of Shanghai Five group that was founded in April 1996. Since then, organization has expanded its membership to eight states. Newest members of SCO are India and Pakistan. Both the countries joined as full members on June 9, 2017 at Astana summit of SCO.

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