Context: On October 13, at the NSG Manesar Garrison, the National Security Guard (NSG) is hosting the international JATE "Manesar Anti-Terror 2022" within the scope of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

• According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan has been invited to the Joint Anti-Terror Exercise (JATE) closing ceremony on October 13 which is being hosted by India and falls under the purview of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Significance of Manesar Anti-Terror 2022

• The NSG stated in a statement that the exercise aims to improve capacities for conducting anti-terrorist operations and fighting other security threats collectively by fostering synergy between the Counter Terrorism Forces of the SCO RATS member nations.

• The exercise will give the participating member nations a forum to improve their operational skills and share expertise in battling regional security threats like terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

Participating nations

• Eight representatives from the NCTF of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Uzbekistan, Russian Federation, and NSG of the Republic of India are participating in Stage 2 of the exercise, which is being held at NSG Manesar Garrison from October 8 to October 13.

• Four "observers" from the Executive Committee (EC) of RATS and one observer from the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan will be present for the exercise.

What is Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure?

• Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure is a permanent body of the SCO with its headquarters in Tashkent.

• Its goal is to encourage member states to work together in the fight against terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

• JATE is a yearly counterterrorism exercise that takes place within the SCO RATS.

• As India took over as Chairperson of the SCO-RATS mechanism in October 2021, counterterrorism officials from Pakistan, Russia, China, and four Central Asian nations gathered in Delhi in May.

• The National Counter Terrorism Forces (NCTF) of SCO member nations performed Stage 1 of the exercise from July 27 to August 1, 2022, according to a statement made by the NSG.

What is SCO?

• It is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001.

• It currently comprise eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan),

• four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and

• six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey).

• In 2021, the decision was made to start the accession process of Iran to the SCO as a full member, and Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia became dialogue partners.

• The SCO has mostly concentrated on regional security issues, its fight against regional terrorism, ethnic secession, and religious extremism since its founding in 2001. Regional development is another priority for the SCO at the moment.

SCO has two Permanent Bodies

• SCO Secretariat in Beijing and

• Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.

• The Chairmanship of SCO is by rotation for a year by the Member States.

• The Council of Heads of States is the apex decision-making body in the SCO.

• The SCO summits, which take place annually in one of the member states' capital cities, are where this Council meets.

• The second-highest council in the organization is the Council of Heads of Government.

• The main executive body of the organization is the SCO Secretariat.

• It facilitates the implementation of organizational decrees, decisions, and documents (such as declarations and agendas), serves as the organization's document repository, plans particular activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates knowledge about the SCO.

• It is located in Beijing.

• There is a Permanent Representative from each Member State to the SCO.

• A permanent body of the SCO, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), with its headquarters in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, works to encourage member nations' collaboration in the fight against terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

• India and Pakistan were admitted as full members of SCO in 2017 members of SCO, an economic and security group.

What is the significance of SCO to India?

• Multi-alignment: SCO is part of India's multi-alignment strategy. The traditional strategy of strategic distance that India adopted during the NAM era paved the ground for the current strategy of strategic engagement with the world's leading nations.

From New Delhi's perspective, the SCO is a crucial forum for the following reasons:

• Platform to connect and engage with Central Asia: It offers a practical platform to connect and engage collectively with the Central Asian states

• Overcome psychological and physical barriers erected by Pakistan: it acknowledges India's role beyond South Asia, overcoming the psychological and physical barrier erected by Pakistan;

• Connectivity: It allows it to pursue its connectivity and development projects in Eurasia; Due to the lack of land connectivity, New Delhi has continued to play a minor role in Central Asia. Landlocked Central Asian states are permanently constrained by Pakistan.

• Afghanistan: It allows it to play a significant role in Afghanistan

• Security: The radicalization of society and terrorist organizations operating out of the area particularly worry New Delhi. From the Af-Pak region, a number of militant organizations linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State conduct business.

• Because Pakistan and Afghanistan are also members of the SCO, it has developed into a crucial platform. A significant project is the SCO-CSTO Outreach Summit on Afghanistan. Given Islamabad's opposition and Beijing's support, New Delhi's attempts to ban some of the terrorist groups operating in Kashmir are unlikely to be successful.

• Best venue for Eurasian matters: The SCO is viewed as a Eurasian organization in New Delhi. For more important global issues, there are BRICS and RIC, but the SCO is the best venue for Eurasian matters. New Delhi does not use the SCO as a forum to challenge US power in the area, in contrast to Russia or China.

Road Ahead

• The SCO operates under separate principles and has distinct priorities: first, it has no desire to bring about the democratization of political systems, and second, it stays away from exclusively bilateral problems where consensus cannot be reached.

• The SCO views a regime's makeup as a domestic matter, and it has no business meddling in such matters.

• However, the SCO offers India the chance to launch global and regional counterterrorism activities as well as deal with the illegal drug trade, which is currently being used by its neighbors to cause social harm and target India's youth.