20 Years of Shanghai Sprit of SCO By: Farhat Asif.

This year Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is celebrating its 20 years of existence. Born out of "Shanghai Process", SCO has come of age with its outstanding contributions towards development, cooperation, peace and togetherness in the Eurasian region and beyond.

Over the years, the organisation has not only remained focused on addressing the issue of terrorism, separatism and extremism but has also advanced building cooperation in economics, trade, cultural and people to people ties. SCO has built a unique global and regional system of regional coordination that allows the countries to seek maximum benefits out of membership, observers or simply dialogue partners.

SCO embodies the essence of shared future for mankind with true observance of the SCO Charter and the Treaty of Long-term Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation. Countries in the SCO have built their togetherness by taking important initiatives for a shared future for the community that organisation covers. Member countries of SCO have worked together with a common vision of comprehensive and sustainable cooperation in mutual issues including separatism, terrorism and extremism.

As a result of the integrated efforts, today SCO is having an economic size of 18.4 trillion USD with 6.2 trillion USD intra SCO trade as there has been an 11 fold increase since the founding of the organisation, according to the official sources. SCO has truly and remarkably withstood the test of the international and regional challenges especially after the advent of war on terror in the region Afghanistan and later now COVID-19. SCO has succeeded in curbing the terrorism in the region and there has been joint efforts to effectively tackle the disasters in the future.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a multilateral regional organisation as a continuum to the Shanghai Five established in 90s and later transformed into SCO in 2001 after Uzbekistan joined the founding members China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. After 17 years, SCO opened up for new members wherein Pakistan and India joined the organisation connecting South Asia to Central Asia, Eurasia and beyond. SCO now covers nearly 43 per cent of the global populations, around 20 per cent of the world's GDP and having 75 per cent of the world's energy resources and this reflects the immense potential, strengthen and togetherness of this important set up.

Having important regional initiatives like Belt And Road...