About SCO Summit, 2023:
- It will be held in the virtual format.
- All the SCO Member States, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been invited to attend the Summit.
- Iran, Belarus and Mongolia have been invited as Observer States.
- The theme of the Summit is ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’. The SECURE acronym stands for Security, Economy and Trade, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity and Environment.
- India has set up new pillars of cooperation under its Chairmanship - Startups and Innovation, Traditional Medicine, Digital Inclusion, Youth Empowerment and Shared Buddhist Heritage.
About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation:
- The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
- The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.
- SCO has two Permanent Bodies - (i) SCO Secretariat in Beijing (ii) Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
- The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure serves to promote cooperation of member states against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
- The official working languages: Chinese and Russian.
