Ministry of External Affairs

[Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Division]

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BRIEF ON SCO

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a eight-member multilateral

organization, established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of
China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. These
countries, except for Uzbekistan, had been members of the Shanghai Five group,
formed on 26 April 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust
in Border Regions. In 2001, during the annual summit in Shanghai, the five member
nations first admitted Uzbekistan in the Shanghai Five mechanism (thus transforming
it into the Shanghai Six). Thereafter, on 15 June 2001 the Declaration of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, was signed and in June 2002 the heads of the SCO
Member States signed the SCO Charter which expounded on the organization’s
purposes, principles, structures and forms of operation, and established it in
international law. At the July 2005 Astana Summit, India, Iran and Pakistan were
granted Observer status. In July 2015 in Ufa, Russia, the SCO decided to
admit India and Pakistan as full members. India and Pakistan signed the
memorandum of obligations in June 2016 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, thereby starting
the formal process of joining the SCO as full members. On 9 June 2017, at the
historic summit in Astana, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full-fledged
members.

2. The SCO has established relations with the United Nations in 2004 (where it is
an observer in the General Assembly), Commonwealth of Independent States in
2005, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2005, the Collective
Security Treaty Organization in 2007, the Economic Cooperation Organization in
2007, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2011, the Conference on
Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in 2014, and
the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in
2015 (ESCAP), United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) in 2018.

Structure

3. SCO has two Permanent Bodies - (i) SCO Secretariat in Beijing and (ii)
Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
The Chairmanship of SCO is by rotation for a year by Member States. Presently
Russia is the Chair of SCO for 2019-20.

4. The Council of Heads of States is the apex decision-making body in the SCO.
This Council meets at the SCO summits, which are held each year in one of the
member states' capital cities. The Council of Heads of Governments is the second-
highest council in the organization. This council also holds annual summits, wherein
members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation. The council also approves the
organization's budget. The Council of Foreign Ministers holds regular meetings,
where current international situation and the SCO's interaction with other
international organizations are discussed. The Council of National Coordinators
coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of
the SCO's charter.

5. The Secretariat of the SCO is the primary executive body of the organization. It
serves to implement organizational decisions and decrees, documents (such as
declarations and agendas), functions as a document depository for the organization,
arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and
disseminates information about the SCO. It is located in Beijing. Each Member State
has a Permanent Representative to the SCO. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure
(RATS), headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO
which serves to promote cooperation of member states against terrorism, separatism
and extremism. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.
The SCO Secretary General and the Executive Director SCO RATS are appointed for
a term of 3 years. Mr. Rashid Alimov from Tajikistan and Mr. Yevgeny Sysoyev from
Russia have respectively been the SCO Secretary General and Executive Director of
RATS since 1 January 2016. The Qingdao Summit of SCO Heads of State held on 9-
10 June, 2018 confirmed appointment of Mr. Vladimir Imamovich Norov from
Uzbekistan as the next Secretary General of SCO from 1 January 2019 to 31
December 2021 and Mr. Zumakhon Faiyozovich Giyosov from Tajikistan as the
Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO-RATS from 1 January 2019 to 31
December 2021.
6. In addition to these, there are mechanisms for regular meetings of Heads of
Parliament, Ministers of Defence, Emergency Situations, Economy/Trade, Transport,
Culture, Education, Health, Justice, Supreme Courts, Prosecutors General,
Secretaries of National Security Councils, etc.
7. The official working languages of the Shanghai Cooperation organization are
Chinese and Russian.

Observer States
8. Observer states of SCO are Afghanistan (received observer status at the 2012
SCO summit in Beijing, China on 6 June 2012), Belarus (accepted as a Dialogue
Partner at the 2009 SCO Summit in Yekaterinburg, and was granted observer status in
2015), Iran (has observer status, and applied for full membership on 24 March 2008.
After the UN sanctions were lifted, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced support
for Iran's full membership in SCO in January 2016), Mongolia (became the first
country to receive observer status at the 2004 Tashkent Summit).
Dialogue Partners
9. The position of Dialogue Partner was established in 2008 in accordance with
Article 14 of the SCO Charter of 7 June 2002. Presently the dialogue partners of
SCO are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal (was granted dialogue partner status
in the SCO at 2015 summit, Ufa, Russia), Sri Lanka (was granted dialogue partner
status at the SCO at 2009 summit,Yekaterinburg) and Turkey (a member of NATO,
was granted dialogue partner status at the SCO at 2012 summit, Beijing).
SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group
10. A protocol was signed between SCO and Afghanistan on the sidelines of the
SCO Heads of State Summit held in Qingdao on 9-10 June, 2018 to establish the
SCO-Afghanistan Contact group. The Contact Group is a consultative mechanism
for developing proposals and recommendations to support the efforts of the
Government and People of Afghanistan to establish a peaceful, stable and
economically prosperous state, free from terrorism and extremism.
India and SCO
11. India was granted Observer status at the July 2005 Astana Summit, and
subsequently participated in all SCO forums open to Observers. India formally
submitted an application for the full membership to the then SCO Chair, Tajikistan,
prior to the SCO Summit in Dushanbe in September 2014. Thereafter, the next SCO
Summit in July 2015 in Ufa (Russia), declared the initiation of the process of
accession of India’s (and Pakistan’s) full membership in SCO.

12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the SCO Summit in Tashkent,
Uzbekistan on 23-24 June 2016, wherein India signed the Memorandum of
Obligations (MOO) to obtain the status of Member of SCO. The MOO outlined
various obligations to be fulfilled by India in a sequential step-by-step and time
bound manner to obtain full membership. As per the obligations under MOO, India
had acceded to 34 SCO Agreements including the SCO Charter and Shanghai
Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism and 3 additional
SCO Agreements that entered into force after signing the MOO. The MOO came into
force for India on 25 March 2017, i.e 30 days after the last written notification from
SCO members. India completed all its obligations under the MOO and was granted
the status of full member (along with Pakistan) on June 9, 2017 at the SCO Summit
in Astana, Kazakhstan.

13. India’s entry into SCO as a full member since 9 June 2017, has been further
activated with the establishment of the SCO Division in MEA and appointment of
National Coordinator and Permanent Representative to SCO. There has been regular
participation in various SCO meetings. Shri Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs,
attended the 9th meeting of SCO Heads of Emergency Prevention and Relief
Agencies in Choplon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, on 24-25 August 2017. The then EAM Ms.
Sushma Swaraj attended the non-regular meeting of SCO Council of Foreign
Ministers on 20 September 2017 on the side-lines of 72nd Session of UN General
Assembly in New York. MOS for Law and Justice, Shri P. P. Chaudhary led
delegation attended 5th Law Ministers’ and expert meetings in Tashkent on 20-21
October, 2017. Commerce and Industry Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhu attended the
Meeting of SCO Ministers responsible for external economic and external trade
activities in Moscow on November 15, 2017. Ms. Pinki Anand, Additional Solicitor
General, Ministry of Law and Justice attended 15th SCO Prosecutor Generals meeting
in St. Petersburg, Russia. EAM attended the meeting of SCO Heads of Governments
on 30 November- 1 December 2017 in Sochi, Russia.

14. The then EAM attended the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting held in
Beijing on 23-24 April, 2018. The then Raksha Mantri led delegation attended the
SCO Defence Ministers meeting in Beijing, China on 24-25 April, 2018. MoS (IC)
for Tourism led delegation attended the SCO Tourism Ministers Meeting in Wuhan 7-
11 May, 2018 and MoS (IC) for Culture visited Sanya for the 15 th SCO Culture
Ministers Meeting 15-18 May, 2018. India took part in an anti-terror drill of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) from August 22 to 29, 2018 in Chebarkul,
Russia. The exercise involved tactical level operations in an international counter
insurgency or counter terrorism environment under the SCO Charter. This was the
first time India participated in the SCO military exercises since becoming a full
member of the SCO in June 2017. SCO Peace Mission Exercise is conducted
biennially for the SCO member states. About 3,000 soldiers from China, Russia,
India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan participated in the drill. The
Indian contingent comprised of 200 personnel primarily composed of troops from
infantry and affiliated arms and services along with the Indian Air Force.

15. Additional Solicitor General, Ministry of Law and Justice attended 16 th SCO
Prosecutor Generals meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 20 September, 2018, EAM
attended the meeting of SCO Heads of Governments on 11-12 October, 2018 and
MoS Ministry of Human Resource Development attended the 7th meeting of SCO
Education Ministers held in Astana on 17 October, 2018.

16. PM Shri Narendra Modi led the official delegation to Summit of Heads of State
in Qingdao, China on 9-10 June 2018. The meeting was chaired by President of the
People’s Republic of China Mr. Xi Jinping. President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Sooronbay
Jeenbekov, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Mr. Mamnoon Hussain,
President of the Russian Federation Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic of
Tajikistan Mr. Emomali Rahmon, and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Mr.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev participated.

17. The meeting was also attended by Heads of States of Observer countries,
namely, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mr. Ashraf Ghani,
President of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Alexander Lukashenko, President of the
Islamic Republic of Iran Mr. Hassan Rouhani and President of Mongolia Mr.
Khaltmaagiin Battulga.
18. A total of 22 outcome documents were signed including the Joint Communique
and Appeal to Youth against radicalization. Other documents pertained to Prevention
of Narcotics Abuse, Environmental Protection, Fight against threat of Epidemics,
Trade Facilitation, MSMEs, Customs and Tourism. Plan of Action for SCO Treaty on
Long term Good Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation for 2018-2022 and
Protocol on the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group were also signed.

19. The then EAM participated in the 17th Council of Heads of Government
meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on
11-12 October, 2018. This was the second CHG meeting since India became a full
member of SCO in June 2017. It was the first major meeting since Kyrgyzstan took
over as chair of the Organisation. Leaders discussed prospects for further
development of SCO including regional and international economic cooperation. A
series of decisions were taken on various issues of cooperation among SCO member
states, including a Memorandum on Technical Cooperation in the Field of Joint
Prevention and Control of Trans-boundary Diseases.

20. India hosted the preparatory Experts meeting for the SCO Joint Urban
Earthquake Rescue Exercise in New Delhi on 1-2 November 2018. The SCO Joint
Urban Earthquake Rescue Exercise as well as the 10th meeting of SCO
Ministers/Heads of Emergency Situations scheduled to be held in India from
November 04-08, 2019.

21. Secretary (West), MEA Shri A. Gitesh Sarma represented India at the SCO-
Afghanistan Contact Group Meeting held in Bishkek on 18-19 April 2019. Hon’ble
Raksha Mantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman attended the meeting of Ministers of
Defence of SCO Member Countries on 29-30 April 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Dy.
NSA Shri Pankaj Saran led a delegation for the meeting of NSAs’on 13-14 May 2019
in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The then EAM Smt. Sushma Swaraj attended the meeting of
SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 21-22 May
2019.

22. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the 19th Meeting of Council of
Heads of State (CHS) of SCO from 13-14 June 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. PM
participated in both the restricted format and the expanded formats of the Summit.
Four Observer countries Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia were also
represented by their respective Presidents in this summit. Issues on terrorism,
Afghanistan, the economic and investment cooperation, humanitarian and cultural
cooperation were raised. An acronym HEALTH (‘H’ for Health-care cooperation, ‘E’
for Economic cooperation, ‘A’ for Alternate Energy, ‘L’ for Literature and Culture ‘T’
for Terrorism free society, ‘H’ for Humanitarian Cooperation), was coined by PM.
PM’s message summed up India’s constructive and positive approach to the entire
SCO process while assuring our resolve and commitment to work with the SCO
countries in close cooperation. The Summit marked the culmination of Kyrgyzstan’s
year- long Chairmanship of SCO and passing of the baton to Russia for the next one
year 2019-2020.

23. Fourteen Outcome documents were signed at the Summit including a joint
Statement- Bishkek Declaration. Other documents covered cooperation in the areas of
Digitization and Information and Telecommunication Technologies, Forum of Heads
of Regions, Development of Inter-regional Cooperation, Mass Media, Physical
Education and Sports, Astana International Financial Center, World Tourism
Organization etc.

24. The first two-day Military Medicine Conference inaugurated by Raksha Mantri
was hosted in India on 12-13 September 2019 as part of the SCO Defence
Cooperation Plan 2019-20. The Indian Armed Forces demonstrated the Rapid Action
medical Team and organized a guided tour for delegations of military medicine
experts to Army Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi.

25. An Indian Delegation led by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister for

Environment, Forest and Climate Change attended the First Meeting of Ministers
and Heads of Departments responsible for Environmental Protection of the SCO
Member States, held in Moscow from 25 to 27 September.

26. Shri Som Parkash, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, led a delegation
to the Meeting of Ministers of the SCO Member States responsible for External
Economy and Foreign Trade, Tashkent, Uzbekistan on September 26, 2019.
Additional Solicitor General, Ministry of Law and Justice attended 17 th SCO
Prosecutor Generals meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 01 October, 2019.

27. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh attended the meeting of SCO Heads of
Governments meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on November 01-02, 2019. Main
outcomes of the CHG Meeting are adoption of the new SCO program of Multilateral
Trade-Economic Cooperation and signing of various other documents.

28. Minister of Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah chaired the Tenth SCO Meeting of
the Heads of Departments of Member-States of Shanghai Cooperation Organization,
Dealing with Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations was held in New
Delhi on 8th November, 2019. Minister of Home Affairs also inaugurated the four-day
SCO joint exercise on urban earthquake search and rescue- 2019. The exercise were
held from November 04-07, 2019 and a meeting of experts dealing with Prevention
and Elimination of Emergency Situations on November 07, 2019.

29. As part of ongoing cooperation between the SCO countries in the field of
tourism,a “SCO Corner in SATTE 2020” was put up in SATTE (South Asian Travel
and Tours Exhibition) 2020, a travel mart event organized in collaboration with
Ministry of Tourism, Incredible India and UNWTO showcasing the tourism potential
of the SCO member states in the field of tourism. The event took place from January
8-10,2020 at Noida.

30. A delegation of SCO led by Secretary General Mr. Vladimir Norov visited
India from January 12 to 15, 2020. As part of his visit, he had courtesy call on
Hon’ble EAM and Hon’ble CIM. Areas of common interest were discussed. Besides
attending the Raisina Dialogue, during his visit, SG, SCO delivered a lecture on “The
future trajectory of the SCO and India's role” at Indian Council of World Affairs,
New Delhi. He also had interaction at FICCI and Invest India.

January 31, 2020

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 Annexure I
SCO- Chronology
1996: Shanghai Five’ constituted in 1996 by China to address border security issues
with Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
2001: On June 15th, 2001, Uzbekistan was invited to join the group, and it was
officially renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Thus Uzbekistan too is
founding member of SCO.
2005-2015: Observer states admitted. India, Iran and Pakistan (2005), Mongolia
(2004), Afghanistan (2012) and Belarus (2015)
2009-2015: Dialogue Partners admitted. Sri Lanka (2009), Turkey (2012) and
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nepal and Cambodia (2015)
2011 Jun: SCO adopts a model MoO to regulate grant of new membership.
2014 Sep Dushanbe: SCO Adopts 1) new MoO for applicant state to become a full
member; 2) Procedures for admitting new member and 3) Rules of Admission for
new members
2014 Sep Dushanbe: India submits its formal application for the full membership of
the SCO
2015 Jul Ufa: Decision of admitting India and Pakistan as new members is taken in
the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the SCO (June 2015, Moscow) and announced at
the Ufa Summit in July 2015.
2015: India receives SCO documents (35) to be acceded to by India as per MoO.
2016 Jun 15 CCS approves signing of MoO and the 35 MoUs/Agreements under
SCO framework.
2016 Jun 24: MoO signing scheduled during SCO Summit in Tashkent.
2017 Mar 25: Memorandum of Understanding comes into force for India
2017 April – May: As per MoO, India is also obliged to accede to three more SCO
documents, viz., those that entered into force after we had signed MoO. CCS
approves and India submits with SCO Secretariat in Beijing the Instruments of
Accession in respect of this last set of documents.
2017 May 8: All the documents were acceded by India to become full members of
SCO.
2017 June 9: India and Pakistan granted the status of full members bringing the total
membership to 8.
2017 August 24-25: Hon’ble Home Minister led to the 9th Meeting of the
Departments of SCO Member States dealing with the issues of the prevention and
elimination of emergency situation at Cholpon Ata City, Kyrgyz Republic.
2017 September 20: Hon’ble EAM attended the Extra-ordinary Meeting of SCO
Council of Foreign Ministers in New York on the sidelines of 72nd Session of UNGA.
2017 October 20-21: Hon’ble MOS for Law and Justice, Shri P. P. Chaudhary led
Indian delegation attended the 5th SCO Law Ministers’ and expert meetings in
Tashkent.
2017 November 15 : Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Suresh
Prabhu led the delegation in the meeting of the Ministers of SCO Member States
responsible for foreign economic and foreign trade activities in Moscow.
2017 November 28-30 : Additional Solicitor General, Ms. Pinky Anand attended the
15th SCO Prosecutor Generals meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia.
2017 November 30 – December 01: Hon’ble EAM led delegation attended the 16 th
SCO Council of Heads of Governments meeting at Sochi, Russia.
2018 January 30 – 02 February: Mr. Yevgeniy Sergeyevich Sysoyev, Director, EC,
SCO-RATS, visited India for the SCO-RATS Legal Experts Group Meeting.
2018 April 23-24: External Affairs Minister attended the SCO Council of Foreign
Ministers meeting in Beijing, China.
2018 April : Shri Rajinder Khanna, Deputy NSA attended 32 nd Meeting of SCO
RATS in Tashkent
2018 April 24-25: Raksha Mantri led delegation attended the SCO Defence Ministers
meeting in Beijing, China.
2018 May 2-5, 2018 : Shri Suresh Chandra, Secretary, Deptt of Legal Affairs attended
Expert group meeting on legal affairs ad forensic experts of SCO Member States in
Bishkek.
2018 May 07-08: Mr. Rashid Alimov, Secretary General of SCO visited India on an
official tour.
2018 May 07-11: MoS (IC) for Tourism led delegation attended the SCO Tourism
Ministers Meeting in Wuhan

2018 May, 15-18 : Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minster of Culture visited Sanya for the 15 th
SCO Culture Ministers Meeting.
2018 May 21-22 : Shri Rajinder Khanna, Deputy NSA attended 32nd Meeting of SCO
RATS in Beijing
2018 May 25, 2018 : Hon’ble Mr. Justice A. K. Sikri led Indian delegation at 13 th
Meeting of Presidents and Chief Justices of the Supreme Courts of the SCO Member
States in Beijing.
2018 June 9-10: Prime Minister led the Indian delegation to the first Summit of
Heads of State, after becoming full members, in Qingdao, China.
2018 July 12: Secretary (West) led the Indian side for Consultations at Deputy
Foreign Ministers level on SCO’s International Activities and cooperation with
International Organisations in Moscow.
2018 August 22-24: Shri Suresh Chandra, Secretary, Deptt of Legal Affairs attended
Expert group meeting on legal affairs ad forensic experts of SCO Member States in
Bishkek.
2018 September 19-20 : Shri Rajen Gohain, MoS (Raiways) attended SCO Railways
Heads of Meeting and International Conference in Tashkent.
2018 September 20: Additional Solicitor General, Ministry of Law and Justice
attended 16th SCO Prosecutor Generals meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
2018 October 11-12: EAM attended the meeting of SCO Heads of Governments
meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
2018 October 15-18: Dr. Satya Pal Singh, MoS Ministry of Human Resource
Development attended the 7th meeting of SCO Education Ministers held in Astana.
2018 November 01-02: Preparatory meeting of SCO Urban Earthquake Search and
Rescue Exercises held in New Delhi
2019 March : Shri R.N. Ravi, Dy NSA attended 34th Meeting of SCO RATS
2019 April 18-19: Secretary (West) led a delegation to attend SCO-Afghanistan
Contact Group Meeting in Bishkek.
2019 April 25 : Director General of Narcotic Control Bureau (MHA) Shri Abhay
represented India in the 9th meeting of SCO Heads of Agencies responsible for
combating illegal drug trafficking in Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyzstan).
2019 April 29-30: Raksha Mantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman led a delegation to attend
16th Meeting of the Defence Ministers of SCO Member States in Bishkek.
2019 May 14-15: Dy. NSA Shri Pankaj Saran led a delegation to attend 14th Meeting
of NSAs of SCO Members States in Bishkek.
2019 May 15: Secretary, Ministry of Culture Shri Arun Goel represented India in the
16th meeting of SCO Ministers of Culture in Bishkek.
2019 May 21-22: External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj, attended the SCO
Council of Foreign Affairs Meeting (CFM) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
2019 June 13-14: Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the SCO
Council of Heads of State (CHS) Meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
2019 June : Shri Rajni Kant Mishra, DG, BSF attended 7th Meeting of Border
Services of SCO Member States in Tashkent
2019 June 17-19 : Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Chief Justice of India, led
Indian delegation to the 14th Meeting of the Chairman of Supreme Courts of SCO
Member States, in Sochi, Russia.
2019 September 13-14: Ministry of Defence, India, hosted Seminar on Military
Medicine for SCO Member Countries, New Delhi.
2019 September 18-20: Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman Railway Board led
delegation at Meeting of SCO Heads of the Administration (Railways)
2019 September 25-27: Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Environment, Forest
and Climate Change, led a delegation to the First Meeting of Ministers and Heads of
Departments responsible for Environmental Protection of the SCO Member States,
Moscow.
2019 September 26: Shri Som Parkash, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry,
led a delegation to the Meeting of Ministers of the SCO Member States responsible
for External Economy and Foreign Trade, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
2019 October 01: Additional Solicitor General, Ministry of Law and Justice attended
17th SCO Prosecutor Generals meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
2019 November 01-02 : Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh attended the meeting of
SCO Heads of Governments meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
2019 November 08 : Minister of Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah chaired the Tenth
SCO Meeting of the Heads of Departments of Member-States of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, Dealing with Prevention and Elimination of Emergency
Situations was held in New Delhi.
2020 January 12-15 : SCO Secretary General Mr. Vladimir Norov visited India from
January 12 to 15, 2020.
 Annexure II
Summits
According to the Charter of the SCO, summits of the Council of Heads of State shall
be held annually at alternating venues. The locations of these summits follow the
alphabetical order of the member state's name in Russian. The charter also dictates
that the Council of Heads of Government (that is, the Prime Ministers) shall meet
annually in a place decided upon by the council members. The Council of Foreign
Ministers is supposed to hold a summit one month before the annual summit of
Heads of State. Extraordinary meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers can be
called by any two member states.
List of summits

Heads of State
Date Country Location
14 June 2001 China Shanghai
7 June 2002 Russia Saint Petersburg
29 May 2003 Russia Moscow
17 June 2004 Uzbekistan Tashkent
5 July 2005 Kazakhstan Astana
15 June 2006 China Shanghai
16 August 2007 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
28 August 2008 Tajikistan Dushanbe
15–16 June 2009 Russia Yekaterinburg
10–11 June 2010 Uzbekistan Tashkent
14–15 June 2011 Kazakhstan Astana
6–7 June 2012 China Beijing
13 September 2013 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
11–12 September 2014 Tajikistan Dushanbe
9–10 July 2015 Russia Ufa
23–24 June 2016 Uzbekistan Tashkent
8–9 June 2017 Kazakhstan Astana
9-10 June 2018 China Qingdao
13-14 June 2019 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
 Heads of Government
Date Country Location
14 September 2001 Kazakhstan Almaty
— — —
23 September 2003 China Beijing
23 September 2004 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
26 October 2005 Russia Moscow
15 September 2006 Tajikistan Dushanbe
2 November 2007 Uzbekistan Tashkent
30 October 2008 Kazakhstan Astana
14 October 2009 China Beijing
25 November 2010 Tajikistan Dushanbe
7 November 2011 Russia Saint Petersburg
5 December 2012 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
29 November 2013 Uzbekistan Tashkent
14–15 December 2014 Kazakhstan Astana
14–15 December 2015 China Zhengzhou
2–3 November 2016 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
30 November – 01
Russia Sochi
December 2017
11-12 October, 2018 Tajikistan Dushanbe
01-02 November, 2019 Uzbekistan Tashkent

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