India joins Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

India became a member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) today. SCO is a political, economic and military organisation which was formed in 2001 in Shanghai. The member nations of SCO before India joining in today were China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

PM Narendra Modi: India is becoming a member of SCO today pic.twitter.com/17MBIhMgkI

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On July 10th last year SCO decided to make India and Pakistan also its full members. SCO mainly addresses security concerns of its member nations and discusses threats in the form of terrorism and extremism.

The nations also wish to redefine cyberwarfare and expand the scope of the organisation to include military cooperation, intelligence sharing and counterterrorism.

Narendra Modi on SCO membership:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India's membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) would contribute to the region's prosperity and strengthen its security.

In his address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, he said connectivity among the countries of the region is crucial to their economic prosperity.

"What we need is seamless flow of goods, services, capital and people among ourselves. Our region also needs to nurture strong rail, road and air links with the rest of the world," he said.

PM Modi said SCO leaders had accepted India as its full member at the Ufa summit last year and the Memorandum of Obligations signed during the Tashkent summit would formalise the process of India's membership.

"I am confident that India's engagement with all SCO members will help us build a region, which is an engine of economic growth for the world; is more stable and secure internally, and strongly connected with other geographies," he said.

He noted that with India as its full member, SCO boundaries would stretch from the Pacific to Europe and from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean.

"India's membership of SCO would contribute to region's prosperity. It would also strengthen its security. Our partnership will protect our societies from the threats of radical ideologies of hate, violence and terror," PM Modi said.

"India will unite with SCO countries to work towards this goal. And, we will adopt zero tolerance and a comprehensive approach in fighting terrorism at all levels," he added.