India to become SCO member | Fusion - WeRIndia

This week, India would be becoming a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). India would be joining SCO along with Pakistan. It is going to be official when the China-dominated security grouping meets for its summit in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent on June 23-24.

SCO is considered to be a counterweight to NATO. It is quite advantageous for India to join it in terms of having a greater voice in security and defense issues along with fighting terrorism.

By becoming a member of the SCO, India would have a better access to major gas and oil exploration projects in Central Asia. This is beneficial because India is one of the largest energy consuming countries in the world.

On June 23, a meeting has been set between Prime Minister Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Modi is expected to seek China’s support for India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. It has been quite public that China has been against India joining NSG.

The annual plenary session of the NSG will be held in South Korea capital Seoul on June 23 and 24. It is expected that India’s proposal to get membership would be discusses. India will complete the process of getting full membership of the SCO at the summit according to sources.

SCO was founded in 2001 at a summit in Shanghai. It was founded jointly by Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In 2005, India, Iran and Pakistan were admitted as observers.

In June 2010, the Tashkent SCO Summit gave way for expansion of the group by lifting the moratorium on new membership. The Indian government is ready to join SCO which would be help the country by letting it play a major role in addressing threats of terrorism. By joining SCO, India is also planning to improve its security cooperation with other countries too.

Image credit: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the Press Briefing with President Xi Jinping of China image by Narendra Modi is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Image Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/narendramodiofficial/15282466671