Context: The SCO Summit held on Tuesday under the Russian Presidency adopted 16 documents including key ones on countering spread of extremist ideologies and promoting digital economy. The leaders discussed the current state and priority goals of SCO activities in the context of the dominant global political and economic processes. While speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on Tuesday, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on the importance of countries respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. PM Narendra Modi, during his virtual speech, also pointed out the attempts being made to hinder with the SCO’s agenda. The prime minister was virtually addressing the 20th summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State, and it was the first time that PM Modi and Xi Jinping were coming face to face after the India-China border conflict. 

Key highlights

• 20th Summit of SCO Heads of State is important as it brought President Xi Jinping of China and Mr. Modi together in the virtual format even as both sides are caught in the high tension confrontation in Eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
• This was the first SCO Summit held in Virtual Format and the third meeting that India participated after becoming a full member in 2017.
• The Republic of Tajikistan assumed chairmanship of SCO for 2021-22.
• India has proposed to set up a Special Working Group on Innovation and Startups and a Sub Group on Traditional Medicine within SCO.

The Prime Minister of India indirectly referred chinese infrastructure projects in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and India China standoff at line of actual control and urged members of the SCO to respect “territorial integrity” and “sovereignty” of each other.

• Connectivity: PM highlighted India's role in supporting infrastructure and connectivity development projects in the SCO region. Examples:

Chabahar port,

• The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a multi-modal connectivity project to establish transport networks (ship, rail, and road route) for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia.

Responsible Global Governance: Bringing changes in global governance will be the focus of India as a non-permanent member of the United Nation (UN) Security Council. From 2021 India will take part in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member.

• Reformed Multilateralism: In the context of the fallout of the pandemic and the economic downturn, India sought support of the SCO members in attaining a reformed multilateralism.
• Organised Crime: India highlighted the challenges posed by the smuggling of illegal weapons, drugs and money laundering.
• Strengthening Cultural Heritage: The National Museum of India will hold an exhibition on the Buddhist heritage of the SCO countries and India will host a food festival reflecting the culinary traditions of the SCO region.

About SCO

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or the Shanghai Pact, is an economical -political military organisation founded in 2001 in Shanghai.
• China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were the original 5 founding members of the organisation who found the Shanghai Five Group. 
• The group was then renamed to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with Uzbekistan joining the organisation in 2001.
• There are eight member states in the SCO at present, namely, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India (both joined in 2017).
• There are about four observer states and six dialogue partners in the SCO at present:

Observer States: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and

• Dialogue Partners: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Objectives of the SCO

• To strengthen mutual trust among the neighbouring member states.
• To promote effective cooperation in various fields like economy, trade, politics, culture and research and technology.
• To ensure peace, prosperity, security and stability in the region, and
• To establish a democratic, fair and rational international eco-political order.

Organisational Structure of the SCO

• The supreme decision-making body in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is the Heads of State Council.
• The second highest body of the SCO is the Heads of Government Council.
• Whereas the SCO secretariat, Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Anti-Terrorist Structure, Tashkent are the permanent bodies of the SCO.
• Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) – Established to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.

India and SCO: Opportunities and Challenges

• Opportunities: Can help in achieving regional integration, promote connectivity and stability across borders.

Security

• India through RATS can improve its counterterrorism abilities.
• India can also work on anti-drug trafficking and small arms proliferation.

Energy: Talks on the construction of stalled pipelines like the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline; IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India) pipeline can get a much needed push through the SCO.

• Trade: SCO provides direct access to Central Asia – overcoming the main hindrance in flourishing of trade between India and Central Asia, providing India with a market for its IT, telecommunications, banking, finance and pharmaceutical industries.

Geopolitical: SCO provides India an opportunity to pursue the “Connect Central Asian Policy”, helping India to play an active role in its extended neighbourhood as well as checking the ever growing influence of China in Eurasia.

• SCO provides a platform for India to simultaneously engage with its traditional friend Russia as well as its rivals, China and Pakistan.

Challenges

• China-Pakistan axis: Pakistan’s inclusion in SCO poses potential difficulties for India.
• Limited ability to assert itself: As India has to play second fiddle since China and Russia are co-founders of SCO and its dominant powers.
• Hard to maintain ties with the west: India may also have to either dilute its growing partnership with the West or engage in a delicate balancing act - as SCO has traditionally adopted an anti-Western posture.

Road Ahead

• The SCO must be used as a platform to deepen solidarity and mutual trust and resolve disputes and differences through dialogue and consultations. It will help in de-escalating tensions between India and its neighbouring countries China and Pakistan.
• The SCO has not deviated from its original agenda over the last 20 years since its inception. The SCO has made considerable gains and also consolidated on them as it has gone along. The adoption of 16 documents at the recently held summit shows that there is a robust institutional arrangement and backup in place and the fact that each of the leaders listen to each other and reacted to each other's speeches too which shows that each one respects the other and wants to take the spirit of this organisation forward. The SCO is an important multilateral regional grouping, we should ensure we further the gains of the past into the future how we do that is we ensure that we build on our goodwill, use our soft-power and also team it up with other aspects to ensure that we see some tangible gains