The 13th annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on September 11 and 12. The summit will be attended by the heads of all member states.
The highlight of the summit will be the adoption of the Dushanbe declaration which will allow for the expansion of members of the SCO. India, an observer member of the grouping since 2005 is set to become a full-member post this declaration. Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan currently observer members, too will become full-members.
Other topics on the agenda are likely to be a resolution on the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII and an agreement on the facilitation of international highway transportation between SCO members.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a six country multilateral body focused on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian space. The precursor of the SCO was the ‘Shanghai Five’ constituted in 1996 by China to address border security issues with four of its neighbours. The SCO was founded at the Shanghai Summit in 2001 by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. At the 2005 Astana Summit, India, Iran and Pakistan were admitted as Observers. Mongolia was also inducted subsequently as an Observer, while Sri Lanka and Belarus became ‘Dialogue Partners’. Turkmenistan has been participating in SCO summits as a special invitee. At the 2012 Beijing Summit, Afghanistan became an Observer, while Turkey was added as a Dialogue Partner.