A broad range of issues related to economic and humanitarian cooperation was discussed at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government that took place in Sochi, Russia, from November 30 to December 1.
The meeting reportedly focused on the strategy, prospects and priorities for SCO’s developmental cooperation..
According to the SCO press center, the main theme of the meeting was the deepening of trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation within the framework of the Organization.
The meeting concluded on a signing ceremony of decisions and a joint communiqué by the heads of delegations.
It was the first SCO Heads of Government meeting in which Pakistan and India participated after assumption of full membership in June this year.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization now has eight full members — China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. ACEAN, CIS and Turkmenistan are guest attendances.
The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO. It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organization.
The SCO Heads of Government Council (HGC) meets once a year to discuss the organization’s multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas, to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues, and also to approve the organization’s annual budget.
In addition to HSC and HGC meetings, there is also a mechanism of meetings at the level of heads of parliament; secretaries of Security Councils; ministers of foreign affairs, defense, emergency relief, economy, transport, culture, education, and healthcare; heads of law enforcement agencies and supreme and arbitration courts; and prosecutors general. The Council of National Coordinators of SCO Member States (CNC) acts as the SCO coordination mechanism.
