The Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has been invited to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in India in May.
This invitation is a sign of improving relations between India and Pakistan, which have been in a decades-long dispute over the Kashmir region. It would be the first time a Pakistani Prime Minister attended an SCO meeting since 2011 when Pakistani Foreign Minister Khar travelled to India for a bilateral meeting. This could be a potential opportunity for the two countries to come to the negotiating table and de-escalate the tension in the region.
Here are a few things to know about the SCO meet-
- SCO stands for Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is a political, economic, and security alliance of eight countries in Eurasia.
- The SCO member states are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
- The organization was established in 2001 to promote cooperation on regional security and economic and cultural issues.
- The SCO holds regular summits, with the highest-level meeting being the annual SCO Heads of State Council Meeting.
- The SCO also holds regular meetings of foreign ministers, defence ministers, and heads of security agencies.
- The organization focuses on countering terrorism, extremism, and separatism and promoting regional economic cooperation and cultural exchange.
- The SCO has a regional anti-terrorism structure, which coordinates the member states' efforts to combat terrorism, extremism and separatism.
- The organization has also established several dialogue mechanisms and projects to promote economic cooperation, including the SCO Business Council and the SCO Interbank Consortium.
- The SCO also has observer states and dialogue partners, countries and organizations that participate in some of the organization's activities without full membership.
- India and Pakistan joined the organization as full members in 2017.
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