Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and international security group of ten countries. It works on political, economic, and security issues, and helps stop terrorism.

It is one of the largest regional organisation in the world. It covers a big part of the Earth's area and includes many people. Its work covers about 24% of the world's land and 42% of all people.

The SCO started from a group called the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In 2001, these countries and Uzbekistan met in Shanghai to create the SCO. Later, India and Pakistan joined in 2017. Iran became a member in 2023, and Belarus joined in 2024. The SCO meets regularly, with its most recent meeting in September 2025 in Tianjin, China.

The SCO is led by the Heads of State Council (HSC), which meets once a year. The group also has the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

Origins

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation started in 1996 as the Shanghai Five group. Leaders from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan signed a treaty to build trust near their borders. Over the next few years, they signed more agreements to reduce military forces and support each other.

In 2001, the group met again in Shanghai and became the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Uzbekistan joined at this time. The organisation grew quickly, making new groups to work on economic and security issues. By 2003, it had official bodies like a Council of Heads of State and a Secretariat in Beijing. India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, and the SCO now works with many other international groups.

Organisational structure

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has a clear way of making decisions. The top group is the Council of Heads of State. It is made up of leaders from each member country. They meet once a year in different capital cities to talk about important issues.

There are also other groups. These include the Council of Heads of Government and the Council of Foreign Ministers. They meet regularly to talk about working together and making plans. The main office, called the Secretariat, is in Beijing, China. It helps carry out decisions and share information about the SCO. Another important part is the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It works on safety matters. The SCO uses Chinese and Russian as its official languages.

Membership

Main article: Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a group of countries that work together on important issues. These countries meet often to talk about ways to help each other.

Some countries are not full members but still play roles, like observer states or dialogue partners. This lets them join meetings and share ideas. For example, Turkmenistan attends as a guest because it is a neutral country. Other countries, like Turkey, are interested in joining the SCO and are working toward becoming full members.

Activities

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) works on many important issues to help keep its member countries safe and strong. One of its main focuses is on security. The SCO talks about big problems like terrorism, separatism, and extremism. It also works to stop bad things like human trafficking and weapons trafficking.

The SCO also works with other groups on military matters, like sharing information and doing practice exercises. The SCO says it is not a military alliance. These exercises help members practice working together to keep peace and stop threats.

Besides security, the SCO helps its members work together on economics. This includes ideas like making it easier to trade goods, finding new energy sources, and thinking about new ways to handle money. The SCO also has programs to help students from member countries study in each other’s schools. Cultural activities, like festivals, also bring the countries closer together.

RATS Military exercises

In December 2025, Iran had its first military exercises with six other member states. These exercises were called the Sahand 2025 drills and happened on Iranian soil. They took place after a conflict between Israel and Iran.

Summits

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation holds yearly meetings called summits. Leaders from member countries come together at these summits. The meetings move between different member countries, following the order of their names in Russian. At the summits, leaders talk about big topics like politics, money matters, and safety.

Before each big yearly summit, the foreign ministers meet to get ready. If needed, any two member countries can ask for extra meetings. Recent summits have been held in cities like Bishkek, Qingdao, and Samarkand.

Analysis

The United States wanted to join the SCO in 2005 but was not allowed. At that time, the SCO asked the U.S. to leave some countries where it had troops. Over time, the West has had different feelings about the SCO. At first, many were unsure about what the group planned to do. But later, some saw it as a way to help keep peace, especially in places like Afghanistan.

The SCO focuses on working together while respecting each country's rights. Some people think the SCO wants to balance power in the world, especially in areas like the Persian Gulf and Central Asia. The group is careful not to support actions that might upset other countries. Even though some see the SCO as a way to counter Western influence, its members do not always agree on everything. For example, during a conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008, China did not support Russia. The SCO also stayed neutral during the conflict in Ukraine but worked to keep good relations between China and Russia.

Gallery of heads of state (members)

Here are the leaders of the countries that are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Each picture shows the current head of state or government for each member country.

• Republic of Belarus - Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus
• People's Republic of China - Xi Jinping, CCP General Secretary and President of China
• Republic of India - Droupadi Murmu, President of India
• Islamic Republic of Iran - Mojtaba Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
• Republic of Kazakhstan - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyz Republic - Sadyr Japarov, President of Kyrgyzstan
• Islamic Republic of Pakistan - Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan
• Russian Federation - Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
• Republic of Tajikistan - Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan
• Republic of Uzbekistan - Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan

Gallery of Heads of Government members

This section shows the leaders of each member country in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The leaders include:

• Republic of Belarus: Aleksandr Turchin, Prime Minister of Belarus
• People's Republic of China: Li Qiang, Premier
• Republic of India: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
• Islamic Republic of Iran: Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Iran
• Republic of Kazakhstan: Oljas Bektenov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyz Republic: Adylbek Kasymaliev, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan
• Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan
• Russian Federation: Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Russia
• Republic of Tajikistan: Kokhir Rasulzoda, Prime Minister of Tajikistan
• Republic of Uzbekistan: Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan