The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and international security organisation of ten member states. It focuses on political, economic, security and counter-terrorism cooperation.

It is the world's largest regional organisation in terms of geographic scope and population, covering at least 24% of the world's total area (65% of Eurasia) and 42% of the world population. As of 2024, its combined nominal GDP accounts for around 23%, while its GDP based on PPP comprises approximately 36% of the world's total.

The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996 between China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In June 2001, the leaders of these nations and Uzbekistan met in Shanghai to announce the SCO, a new organisation with deeper political and economic cooperation. In June 2017, it expanded to eight states, with India and Pakistan. Iran joined the group in July 2023, and Belarus in July 2024. Several countries are engaged as observers or dialogue partners. Its most recent meeting was held in September 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year. The organisation also contains the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

Origins

The Shanghai Five The Shanghai Five group was created on 26 April 1996 when the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai.

On 24 April 1997 the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow, Russia. On 20 May 1997, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin signed a declaration on a "multipolar world".

Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group occurred in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1998, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 2000. At the Dushanbe summit, members agreed to "oppose intervention in other countries' internal affairs on the reason of 'humanitarianism' and 'protecting human rights;' and support the efforts of one another in safeguarding the five countries' national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and social stability." The Shanghai Five structure helped speed up the members' resolution of border disputes, agree on military deployments in border areas, and address security threats.

Developing institutional forms

In 2001, the annual summit returned to Shanghai and the group was Institutionalised. The five member nations first admitted Uzbekistan in the Shanghai Five mechanism. On 15 June 2001, all six heads of state signed the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation. From 2001 to 2008, the SCO developed rapidly, establishing a number of permanent bodies and ad hoc initiatives dealing with economic and security matters.

In June 2002, the heads of the SCO member states met in Saint Petersburg, Russia and signed the SCO Charter which expounded on the organisation's purposes, principles, structures and forms of operation. It entered into force on 19 September 2003. By 2003, a Council of Heads of State, a Council of Heads of Government and a Council of Foreign Ministers, as well as a permanent Secretariat based in Beijing was formed.

In July 2005, at the summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, with representatives of India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan attending an SCO summit for the first time, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of the Kazakhstan, greeted the guests in words that had never been used before in any context: "The leaders of the states sitting at this negotiation table are representatives of half of humanity".Kazinform, 5 July 2005. By 2007, the SCO had initiated over twenty large-scale projects related to transportation, energy and telecommunications and held regular meetings of security, military, defence, foreign affairs, economic, cultural, banking, and other officials from its member states.

In July 2015, in Ufa, Russia, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. In June 2016 in Tashkent, both signed the memorandum of obligations, thereby starting the process of joining the SCO. In June 2017, at a summit in Kazakhstan, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full members.

In 2004, the SCO established relations with the United Nations (where it is an observer in the General Assembly), the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2005, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2005, the Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2007, the Economic Cooperation Organization in 2007, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2011, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in 2014, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in 2015. in 2018, SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) has established relations with the African Union's African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT).

Organisational structure

As of 2020, the Council of Heads of State was the top decision-making body in the SCO, meeting at the annual SCO summits in one of the member states' capital cities. Because of their government structure, the prime ministers of the parliamentary democracies of India and Pakistan attend the SCO Council of Heads of State summits, as their responsibilities are similar to the presidents of other SCO nations.

As of the 1 September 2025 meeting, the Council of Heads of State consists of: Aleksandr Lukashenko (Belarus) Xi Jinping (China) Narendra Modi (India) Masoud Pezeshkian (Iran) Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Kazakhstan) Sadyr Japarov (Kyrgyzstan) Shehbaz Sharif (Pakistan) Vladimir Putin (Russia) Emomali Rahmon (Tajikistan) Shavkat Mirziyoyev (Uzbekistan)

The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organisation. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation and approves the organisation's budget. As of the 1 November 2022 meeting, Council of Heads of Government consists of: Aleksandr Turchin (Belarus) Li Qiang (China) Narendra Modi (India) (usually sends a deputy, such as EAM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the 2021 summit) Alihan Smaiylov (Kazakhstan) Akylbek Japarov (Kyrgyzstan) Shehbaz Sharif (Pakistan) (usually sends a deputy, such as Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas at the 2020 summit) Mikhail Mishustin (Russia) Qohir Rasulzoda (Tajikistan) Abdulla Aripov (Uzbekistan)

As of 2007, the Council of Foreign Ministers also held regular meetings, where they discussed the current international situation and interaction with other international organisations. As of 2021, the Council of National Coordinators coordinated the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO's charter.

+ Directors of SCO RATS Executive Committee Years in office Name 15 June 2004 – 2006 Vyacheslav Kasymov 2007–2009 Myrzakan Subanov 2010–2012 Dzhenisbek Dzhumanbekov 2013–2015 Zhang Xinfeng 2016–2018 Yevgeniy Sysoev 2019–2021 Jumakhon Giyosov 2022–2024 Ruslan Mirzaev 2025–present Ularbek Sharsheev

+ Heads of SCO Secretariat Years in office Name Executive Secretary 15 January 2004 – 2006 Zhang Deguang Secretaries-General 2007–2009 Bolat Nurgaliyev 2010–2012 Muratbek Imanaliyev 2013–2015 Dmitry Mezentsev 2016–2018 Rashid Alimov 2019–2021 Vladimir Norov 2022–2024 Zhang Ming 2025–present Nurlan Yermekbayev

The Secretariat of the SCO, headquartered in Beijing, China, is the primary executive body of the organisation. It serves to implement organisational decisions and decrees, drafts proposed documents (such as declarations and agendas), function as a document depository for the organisation, arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates information about the SCO. The SCO secretary-general is elected to a three-year term. Nurlan Yermekbayev of Kazakhstan became the current secretary-general on 1 January 2025.

The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee, headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The Director of SCO RATS Executive Committee is elected to a three-year term. Ularbek Sharsheev of Kyrgyzstan became the current Director on 1 January 2025. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.

The official languages of the SCO are Chinese and Russian.

The SCO has a youth group, which is entitled the Score Foundation.

Membership

In 2025, the SCO decided to initiate a process to create a new status of SCO Partner, replacing the existing statuses of Observer and Dialogue Partner states.

Member states

Country Accession started Member since — 15 June 2001 10 June 2015 9 June 2017 17 September 20214 July 202316 September 2022 4 July 2024

Current and former observer states Country Status granted 2004 7 June 2012 (inactive since 2021)Former observers 5 July 2005 2015

Current and former dialogue partners The status of dialogue partner was created in 2008.

Country Status approved Status granted 15 or 16 June 2009 6 May 2010 7 June 2012 26 April 2013 10 July 2015 24 September 2015 14 March 2016 22 March 2016 16 April 2016 16 September 2021 14 September 2022 16 September 2022 5 May 2023 15 July 2023 1 September 202510 July 2026Former dialogue partners 15 or 16 June 2009 28 April 2010

Guest attendees

Multiple international organisations and one country are guest attendances to SCO summits. +Organisation guest attendeesOrganisationOrganisation TypeFirst Meeting AttendedInternational union1 September 2025Overview of ASEAN-SCO Relations. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (January 2024). Accessed 20 September 2025.International unionInternational unionCollective Security Treaty OrganizationMilitary allianceEurasian Economic UnionEconomic unionEconomic Cooperation OrganizationEconomic unionConference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in AsiaInternational unionAsian Infrastructure Investment BankInternational bank +Country guest attendeesCountryFirst Meeting Attended Turkmenistan has previously declared itself a permanently neutral country, which was recognised by a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1995, thus ostensibly precluding its membership in the SCO. At the same time, Turkmenistan is a member of the Economic Cooperation Organization since 1992 and an observer of the Organization of Turkic States since 2021. Turkmenistan's head of state has been attending SCO summits since 2007 as a guest attendee.

Future membership possibilities Suspected fears about new members weakening the organisation have stalled the addition of members over its existence. Instead, countries are added to various categoriesobservers, guests, and dialogue partnersto allow them to participate at summits.

List of potential observers, guests, or dialogue partners Country Status applied for Date Observer 2012 Dialogue partner 2015 Dialogue partner 2016 Dialogue partner 2019 Observer July 2023 Dialogue partner May 2026

Countries showing interest in joining the SCO

Turkey