Signal The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation grows from the Shanghai Five to ten full members

Summary

The report traces the origin of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to border negotiations between China and newly independent Central Asian states after the Soviet collapse. On 26 April 1996 the leaders of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed a treaty on military confidence in border areas in Shanghai, forming the Shanghai Five. Uzbekistan joined on 15 June 2001, when the group was reorganized as the SCO, and India and Pakistan were admitted on 9 June 2017. Iran joined on 4 July 2023 and Belarus on 4 July 2024, bringing full membership to ten, with Mongolia as an observer and a wider circle of guests and dialogue partners. The authors note that the SCO and BRICS are recently showing a new phase of development through expanded functions, roles and membership.