New Delhi: EAM SushmaSwaraj met with the Secretary General of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Rashid Alimov in New Delhi. India became a full member of SCO in June 2017 and will extend full cooperation to further consolidate SCO as an effective regional platform.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic, and security organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.These countries, except for Uzbekistan, had been members of the Shanghai Five group, founded on 26 April 1996 in Shanghai. India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The SCO Secretariat, based in Beijing, is the main permanent executive body of the SCO. Bringing together the colourful and distinctive cultures of Central Asia, Russia and China, it promotes mutual assistance and team spirit among staff and provides reliable support on the basis of a stable administrative system that has taken shape over 15 years.
The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General. Nominated by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and approved by the Heads of State Council, the Secretary-General is appointed from among citizens of the SCO member states on a rotating basis in Russian alphabetical order for a single three-year term with no possibility of extension. Deputy Secretaries-General are nominated by the Council of National Coordinators and approved by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. Officials of the Secretariat are hired from among citizens of the SCO member states on the basis of quotas.
The SCO Secretariat coordinates the activity of the SCO and provides informational, analytical, legal, organisational and technical support.