SCO members agree to cooperate against illicit arms trafficking

The six member states conducted a joint counterterrorism military exercise in Russia. The drill showed the practical security cooperation associated with the SCO, while the scope and public framing of...

At the Dushanbe summit, leaders set out positions on regional and global affairs. They supported peaceful settlement of conflicts and discussed the August 2008 war in Georgia. Their statement should...

The Dushanbe Declaration welcomed the six principles agreed in Moscow on 12 August 2008 and recognized Russia’s role in promoting peace and cooperation. This language revealed the SCO’s preference for...

The declaration referred to international standards for protecting human rights and civil liberties, including minority rights, alongside national law. This formal commitment offers a benchmark for...

The member states adopted rules for dialogue partners, giving interested states a formal channel for cooperation below observer status and membership. The new category widened the SCO’s external...

In Astana, prime ministers approved a plan to implement the SCO’s trade and economic cooperation programme. The plan aimed to translate long-term goals into practical cooperation; adopting it did...

The SCO hosted a special conference on Afghanistan with regional and international participation. The declaration treated Afghanistan’s stability as inseparable from regional security and development,...

Participants linked security to reconstruction and economic development and called for coordinated efforts against terrorism and narcotics trafficking. This recognized that military measures alone...

At the 2009 summit, member states called for dialogue and a more equitable and rational architecture of interstate relations. Their position challenged concentration of global decision-making power,...

The member states adopted the SCO Convention against Terrorism, giving a treaty framework to cooperation against terrorism. Its legal definitions and obligations expanded the organization’s security...