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20 Jul 2022 Varanasi is SCO’s first “tourism and cultural capital”

Posted at 10:16h in Daily current-affairs by khyati khare 0 Comments

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Varanasi has been selected as the first “Tourism and Cultural Capital of the SCO region 2022-23” ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit to be held in September 2022.
The SCO summit will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan where two new members- Iran and Belarus are likely to join the SCO. The agreement was signed by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports as a result of the adoption of the Agreement on September 17, 2021 by the SCO member countries on cooperation in the field of youth work.
India will host the SCO summit in the year 2023.

In a new recurring initiative to promote people-to-people contact and tourism among member states, it has been decided to make Varanasi the “Cultural and Tourism Capital”.
Every year a city of cultural heritage of a member country, which will hold the recurring presidency of the organization, will be awarded a title to highlight its prominence.
The new initiative will come into force after the Samarkand summit, after which India will assume the presidency and host the next Heads of State Summit.

It has been observed that the international influence of SCO is increasing and the principles of the SCO Charter are being widely accepted.
China and Russia want to prepare the grouping as a counter to the West, especially as an extension of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Although it is believed that there is a lot of contradiction between SCO and NATO.
The expansion of NATO is completely different as the SCO is a cooperative organization based on non-alignment and does not target any third party.
NATO is based on Cold War thinking.

SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization.
It is a Eurasian political, economic and military organization whose goal is to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
It was formed in the year 2001.
The SCO Charter was signed in the year 2002 and came into force in the year 2003.

Before the formation of the SCO in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five.
The Shanghai Five (1996) originated as a series of border demarcation and demilitarization talks, conducted by the four former Soviet republics to ensure stability along the borders with China.
The Shanghai five was renamed SCO after Uzbekistan joined the organization in 2001.
India and Pakistan became its members in the year 2017.

To strengthen mutual trust and goodwill among the member countries.
To promote effective cooperation in the fields of politics, trade and economy, research and technology and culture.
To enhance relations in the fields of education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection etc.
To maintain peace, security and stability in the area concerned.
To establish a democratic, fair and rational neo-international political and economic order.

Currently its member countries include Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Iran.

Council of Heads of State: It is the apex body of the SCO which discusses international issues through its internal activities with other nations and international organizations.
Council of Heads of Governance: negotiates and decides on issues related to economic areas under SCO and approves the budget of the organization.
Council of Foreign Ministers: It deals with issues related to day to day activities.
Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS): deals with dealing with terrorism, separatism, separatism, extremism and extremism.
Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: It is located in Beijing to provide informational, analytical and organizational support.
Official languages: Russian and Chinese are the official languages of the SCO.

Over time SCO hosts have encouraged members to use the forum to discuss differences.
These were the occasions when the current Indian Prime Minister held a bilateral meeting with former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2015 and the External Affairs Minister negotiated a five-point agreement with his Chinese counterpart during the Moscow summit in 2020.
India is also a part of the ‘Quadrilateral’ group along with the US, Japan and Australia.
Its association with groups of a different nature is part of its foreign policy which emphasizes the principles of “strategic autonomy and multi-alignment”.