Peace Mission 2009

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

Simplified Chinese: 上海合作组织 Russian: Шанхайская организация сотрудничества
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Members   Observers   Dialogue partners   Observer applicants   Disputed territories
Abbreviation	SCO
Formation	15 June 2001 (superseded Shanghai Five group, founded on 26 April 1996)
Type	Mutual security, political, economic organisation
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Membership	8 member states  China  India  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Pakistan  Russia  Tajikistan  Uzbekistan 4 observer states  Afghanistan  Belarus  Iran  Mongolia 6 dialogue partners  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Cambodia    Nepal  Sri Lanka  Turkey 4 guest attendances  ASEAN  CIS  Turkmenistan  UN
Official language	Chinese, Russian
Secretary General	Rashid Alimov
Deputy Secretaries General	Sabyr Imandosov Wang Kaiwen Aziz Nosirov Vladimir Potapenko
Website	SectSCO.org

(superseded Shanghai Five group, founded on 26 April 1996)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic, and security organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003. These countries, except for Uzbekistan, had been members of the Shanghai Five group, founded on 26 April 1996 in Shanghai. India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The Shanghai Five grouping was created 26 April 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai, China by the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

On 24 April 1997, the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow, Russia. On 20 May 1997, presidents of Russia Boris Yeltsin and prime minister of China Jiang Zemin signed a declaration on a "multipolar world".

Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group occurred in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1998, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 2000. At the Dushanbe summit, members agreed to "oppose intervention in other countries' internal affairs on the pretexts of 'humanitarianism' and 'protecting human rights;' and support the efforts of one another in safeguarding the five countries' national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and social stability."