Heads of state of countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a six-member group meant to promote stability in Central Asia, are gathering this week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Formed in Shanghai in 1996 as the Shanghai Five, the group originally comprised China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan joined in 2001 and the group was renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Member countries meet regularly to discuss mutual security concerns in Central Asia, including terrorism, separatism, and extremism. They also aim to deepen regional trade and economic cooperation in an energy-rich region known as the “New Silk Road.”
China envisions creating a Silk Road Economic Belt stretching across Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe, through which goods and natural resources will flow, fueling China’s growing energy demand and accelerating economic development in the nation’s land-locked northwestern region.
Other countries will also be represented at this week’s SCO summit. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan are currently observer members. Belarus, Turkey, and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners.
India is seeking full membership, which could take place now that a framework for admitting new states is close to being settled.
“India has been associated with the SCO as an observer since 2005 and we have stated that we would be willing to play a larger role in the organization as a full member,” India’s ambassador to Russia, Pundi Srinivasan Raghavan, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti last week. “We are hopeful that the organization will reach a consensus on its expansion process and procedures,” he added.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Qin Gang, said China is optimistic that the SCO can “make progress” in adding new members and also “enhance its exchanges and cooperation with other international organizations and relevant countries.”
This week’s summit may also see Mongolia and Pakistan accede to the organization. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to attend the summit, but SCO rules prevent a nation like Iran from becoming a full-fledged member while it is under UN sanctions.
Last month, 7,000 soldiers from five of the six SCO member states held an anti-terrorism exercise in China’s Inner Mongolia. Dubbed “Peace Mission 2014,” it was held three months after Russia sealed a 30-year deal to pipe natural gas from Siberia to China. It included live-fire drills as part of a simulated suppression of a mass uprising by 2,000 separatists backed by an international terrorist organization and armed with tanks, missiles, and light aircraft.
China showcased 19 different types of aircraft, including its newest WZ-10 and WZ-19 attack helicopters, modeled after the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin. It also test-fired a missile from a military drone.
“Drones, tasked with surveillance, reconnaissance and ground attacks, will play a vital role in fighting against terrorism,” said Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
China said that the joint-training exercise, the largest in the SCO’s history, was conducted in response to the growing threat posed by terrorist organizations such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
Western critics say that the SCO’s definition of terrorism could put human rights at risk in China’s restive and predominantly Muslim northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a charge Beijing denies.
“The success of the joint drill demonstrated the unity of the SCO military forces, the strong capability of safeguarding regional safety and world peace, and their resolution to fight against the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism,” said Fang Fenghui, chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army.
Photo: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, September 2013. Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, www.kremlin.ru (cc).
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Shanghai Cooperation Organization to Meet in Tajikistan
September 10, 2014
Heads of state of countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a six-member group meant to promote stability in Central Asia, are gathering this week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Formed in Shanghai in 1996 as the Shanghai Five, the group originally comprised China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan joined in 2001 and the group was renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Member countries meet regularly to discuss mutual security concerns in Central Asia, including terrorism, separatism, and extremism. They also aim to deepen regional trade and economic cooperation in an energy-rich region known as the “New Silk Road.”
China envisions creating a Silk Road Economic Belt stretching across Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe, through which goods and natural resources will flow, fueling China’s growing energy demand and accelerating economic development in the nation’s land-locked northwestern region.
Other countries will also be represented at this week’s SCO summit. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan are currently observer members. Belarus, Turkey, and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners.
India is seeking full membership, which could take place now that a framework for admitting new states is close to being settled.
“India has been associated with the SCO as an observer since 2005 and we have stated that we would be willing to play a larger role in the organization as a full member,” India’s ambassador to Russia, Pundi Srinivasan Raghavan, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti last week. “We are hopeful that the organization will reach a consensus on its expansion process and procedures,” he added.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Qin Gang, said China is optimistic that the SCO can “make progress” in adding new members and also “enhance its exchanges and cooperation with other international organizations and relevant countries.”
This week’s summit may also see Mongolia and Pakistan accede to the organization. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to attend the summit, but SCO rules prevent a nation like Iran from becoming a full-fledged member while it is under UN sanctions.
Last month, 7,000 soldiers from five of the six SCO member states held an anti-terrorism exercise in China’s Inner Mongolia. Dubbed “Peace Mission 2014,” it was held three months after Russia sealed a 30-year deal to pipe natural gas from Siberia to China. It included live-fire drills as part of a simulated suppression of a mass uprising by 2,000 separatists backed by an international terrorist organization and armed with tanks, missiles, and light aircraft.
China showcased 19 different types of aircraft, including its newest WZ-10 and WZ-19 attack helicopters, modeled after the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin. It also test-fired a missile from a military drone.
“Drones, tasked with surveillance, reconnaissance and ground attacks, will play a vital role in fighting against terrorism,” said Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
China said that the joint-training exercise, the largest in the SCO’s history, was conducted in response to the growing threat posed by terrorist organizations such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
Western critics say that the SCO’s definition of terrorism could put human rights at risk in China’s restive and predominantly Muslim northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a charge Beijing denies.
“The success of the joint drill demonstrated the unity of the SCO military forces, the strong capability of safeguarding regional safety and world peace, and their resolution to fight against the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism,” said Fang Fenghui, chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army.
Photo: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, September 2013. Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, www.kremlin.ru (cc).
