New Delhi: A three-member delegation from Pakistan will be visiting New Delhi for the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO’s ) anti-terror body Regional anti-terrorist structure RATS next week, said Pakistan foreign ministry on Thursday. This is the first time that the Pakistani delegation will be visiting India since the new government led by PM Shehbaz Sharif took charge in Islamabad.
New Delhi will be hosting the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's anti-terror body--Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure RATS—that will take place from May 16th to 19th and will see the participation of all members of the grouping, including Pakistani. SCO's RATS, based out of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, is a permanent body of the grouping and aims to counter terrorism, extremism, and separatism in the region. It is pertinent to note that SCO as a grouping came into existence in 2001, and India and Pakistan became members of its in 2017.
Along with Pakistan, India has also participated in various SCO initiatives, including an anti-terror drill in Russia’s Chebarkul in 2018. India considers the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as an important regional organization to promote cooperation in the areas of peace, security, trade, economy and culture. India is committed to widening our cooperation with SCO by playing a proactive, positive and constructive role in the organization.
The SCO anti-terror body meeting comes even as India is the current chair of the executive council of SCO Rats. Earlier this year, Director of SCO RATS Mirzaev Ruslan Erkinovich visited India and held talks with the Indian leadership, including NSA Ajit Doval, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, BSF Chief. India will be hosting the SCO RATS council meeting on October 14th this year in New Delhi.
Since its inception in 2001, the SCO has mainly focused on regional security issues, and its fight against regional terrorism, ethnic separatism and religious extremism. To date, the SCO’s priorities also include regional development. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey).
In 2021, the decision was made to start the accession process of Iran to the SCO as a full member, and Egypt, Qatar as well as Saudi Arabia became dialogue partners. This year, Uzbekistan is the chair of the group and will hold the summit in September. It hands over the chairmanship to India, which will hold the summit next year.
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