23rd Shanghai Summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The 23rd Shanghai Summit, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took place on 4 July 2023. He addressed the SCO summit through virtual means.
The theme of this summit is "Towards a SECURE SCO". It stands for SECURE, S: Security, E: Economic Development, C: Connectivity, U: Unity, R: Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, E: Environmental protection.
As per SCO tradition, Turkmenistan has been invited as the guest chair. Iran, Belarus and Mongolia have been invited as observers. Pakistan and China also participated in this summit.
The heads of two SCO bodies - the Secretariat and the SCO RATS (Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure) - also participated in the virtual summit.
The current dialogue partners list of the organization includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
23rd Shanghai Summit
The Prime Minister said that the S.C.O. has emerged as an important platform for peace, prosperity and development in the entire Eurasia region. India has created five new pillars of cooperation in SCO. These pillars are Startups and Innovation, Traditional Medicine, Youth Empowerment, Digital Inclusion and Shared Buddhist Heritage.
Several new platforms including Young Scientist Conclave, Writers Conclave, Startup Forum and Youth Council have been created to
groom the talent of the youth of SCO countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described terrorism as a major threat to regional and global peace. The land of Afghanistan should not be used to spread instability in neighboring countries and promote terrorist ideology.
The Prime Minister said the food, fuel and fertilizer crisis is a major challenge for all countries in a world beset by conflicts, tensions and pandemics.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
It emerged from a series of Shanghai Five (1996) border demarcation and demilitarization talks. Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were the members of the Shanghai Five.
It was built in the year 2001. The SCO charter was signed in the year 2002 and came into force in the year 2003.
Official languages: Russian and Chinese. SCO Secretariat in Beijing. Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
The Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO in 2001 after Uzbekistan joined the organization. India and Pakistan became its members in 2017. India was made an observer in SCO in the year 2005. 'Kashi' (Varanasi) has been designated as the first cultural capital of the SCO.
