India to host SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting

Subject: International Relations

Section: International Organisation

Concept:

India will be hosting the Defence Ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries and observer countries such as Belarus and Iran.
The members of SCO include Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India.
India is the chairman of the SCO for 2023.
During the meeting, the Defence Ministers are expected to discuss issues and matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within the SCO and effective multilateralism.

About SCO

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation. It is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance and has been the primary security pillar of the region.
It was established in 2001. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanisms.
The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO. It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.
The organisation has two permanent bodies:
the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing.
the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.
Eight member states: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Four observer states: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.