India has been accorded full membership of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at its Ufa summit held in Russia. This
membership will help India to work with the 6 members grouping to enhance
connectivity, combat terror and create an environment for boosting trade by
easing barriers. Theoretically, India will become the member of SCO by 2016
after completion of certain procedures.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
(SCO) SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and military organization. SCO’s
first enlargement was in 2001 with addition of Uzbekistan and second
enlargement was in July 2015 with addition of 2 new members India and Pakistan.
Headquarters: Beijing, China Established: 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders 6
countries viz. China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and
Uzbekistan. It is an outcome of The Shanghai Five grouping established in 1996
by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Currently it as four
observers Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Since 2005, India was having an
Observer status of SCO and had applied for full membership in 2014. Analysis
SCO membership to India will have significant benefits in Economic view: Open
up trade, energy sector and strategic transit routes for India between Russia,
Central Asia and China. As Iran has observer status in the SCO, it will serve
as a platform for India to boost trade through the Iranian ports of Bandar
Abbas and Chabahar. These ports are considered as India’s gateway to Central
Asia through International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). Security
grouping: SCO will provide platform for the security grouping for India and
Pakistan especially on issue to counter terrorism. Give a valuable interface to
connect with security concern of Afghanistan especially its members including
India due to pullout international troops. SCO may also serve as guarantor for
projects such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and
Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipelines, which are held by India due to security
concerns.
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