Alliance · Political and security club
SCO
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a club of 10 countries in Asia and Europe, led by China and Russia. The others are India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Together they have 42% of the world's people (2025). Its own declarations say it is not a military alliance, and none of its treaties obliges a member to defend another. Its leaders meet once a year.
- Members
- 10
- Belarus joined last, in 2024
- Founded
- 2001
- In Shanghai, China
- People
- 3.5 billion
- 42% of the world, 2025
- Economy
- $27.5tn
- 71% of it China's, 2025
- Chair, 2026-27
Pakistan- Summit in Islamabad, 2027
Which countries are in the SCO?
The SCO has 10 members. China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan founded it in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. India and Pakistan joined in 2017, Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024. The first five had worked together since 1996 as the "Shanghai Five". On April 26, 1996, they signed an agreement in Shanghai to build military trust along their borders, the old Soviet-Chinese frontier of more than 7,000 km. In 1997 they agreed to cut their troops there.
Seventeen more countries have a lesser status. Mongolia and Afghanistan are observers; Mongolia was the first, in 2004. Fifteen others, from Turkey and Egypt to Cambodia, are dialogue partners. In September 2026 the leaders signed changes to the SCO's charter that will merge both groups into one "SCO partner" status once they take effect. The secretariat is in Beijing.
- Member
- Observer or dialogue partner
- Not a member
How the SCO grew
Countries that joined in each year, and the total after
20016 founders
20178
20239
202410
Is the SCO a military alliance?
The SCO is not a military alliance. Its founding declaration of June 15, 2001 says it "is not an alliance directed against other states and regions." The 2026 Bishkek declaration calls it "not a military-political bloc." No treaty obliges members to defend each other. A 2007 treaty offers a threatened member only consultations. When Israel and the United States bombed Iran, a member, in 2025 and 2026, the SCO answered with statements.
Its security work targets what it calls the "three evils" of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure in Tashkent, launched in 2004, connects members' security services. At the "Peace Mission 2018" exercise in Russia, Indian and Pakistani troops took part in the same exercise for the first time. At the end they danced together to Bollywood songs.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is not an alliance directed against other states and regions, and it adheres to the principle of openness.
A 2007 treaty lets a threatened member ask the others for consultations, nothing more.
The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure links members' security services and runs joint exercises.
Do SCO members get along?
SCO members do not always get along. The SCO decides by consensus, so one member can block a joint statement. India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, fought from May 7 to 10, 2025, after a terrorist attack killed 26 people at Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. In June 2025 India's defense minister, Rajnath Singh, refused to sign the SCO defense ministers' joint document in Qingdao, China. It left out Pahalgam but mentioned militancy in Pakistan's Balochistan province, so the meeting ended without one.
Since 2018 India has also refused to endorse China's Belt and Road Initiative in SCO declarations; those of 2025 and 2026 list only the other eight members as supporters. Pakistan chairs the SCO until the 2027 summit in Islamabad. India sent its SCO coordinator to the first meeting there in September 2026, but has not said whether Prime Minister Modi will go.
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India and PakistanFought in 2025
Four days of strikes in May 2025. The Tianjin summit declaration in September 2025 condemned the Pahalgam attack that triggered the fighting.
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India and ChinaClashed in 2020
20 Indian and at least 4 Chinese soldiers died at Galwan in June 2020. Modi's 2025 visit was his first to China in seven years.
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Kyrgyzstan and TajikistanFought twice
Border fighting killed at least 55 people in 2021 and at least 94 in September 2022, on the eve of the SCO summit. They signed a border treaty in March 2025.
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IranBombed
In September 2025 the SCO condemned the June 2025 strikes by Israel and the United States by name. In September 2026 it condemned the new strikes without naming anyone.
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Russia's war in UkraineNot mentionedThe 2025 and 2026 summit declarations do not mention it. At the 2022 summit, Modi told Putin "today's era is not of war."
How big is the SCO?
The SCO is the world's largest regional organization by population. Its members have 42% of the world's people, about a quarter of its land and 23% of its economy (2025). NATO's members have 12% of the people and 50% of the economy. China alone has 71% of the SCO's economy, more than the other nine members combined. China's military spending in 2025 was $335.5 billion, Russia's $190.4 billion and India's $92.1 billion. BRICS has more people, 48% of the world, because it includes Brazil, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Egypt.
The SCO and NATO, share of the world
- SCO
- NATO
People, 2025
Economy, 2025
Military spending, 2025
What does the SCO do?
The SCO's leaders meet once a year, and the chair rotates among the members. China called the Tianjin summit of August 31 and September 1, 2025 the largest in the SCO's history. Leaders of more than 20 countries came, and so did UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Photos of Modi, Putin and Xi laughing together went around the world. The summit adopted a development strategy until 2035.
The Bishkek summit on September 1, 2026, the SCO's 25th anniversary, adopted 28 documents. All 10 members' leaders attended. Turkey's President Erdoğan came as a guest. Pakistan took over the chair. The secretariat in Beijing has 36 officials. The Secretary-General since January 2025 is Nurlan Yermekbayev of Kazakhstan.
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Development bankNot set up
China proposed it over a decade ago. In 2025 the "interested" members decided to create it. By September 2026 it had no founding agreement, capital or headquarters.
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Fighting terrorismSince 2004
By the SCO's own count, members' agencies stopped more than 1,300 crimes linked to terrorism, separatism and extremism in 2024.
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A third languageSigned in 2026
Russian and Chinese have been the only official languages, though India uses neither. In 2026 the leaders signed charter changes adding English, an Indian proposal.
Is it in the SCO?
Short answers for the countries people ask about most.
Is Turkey in the SCO?
PartnerA dialogue partner since 2013, the only NATO member with any SCO status. President Erdoğan called membership "the goal" in 2022 but has not applied.
Is India in the SCO?
YesA member since 2017, when it joined with Pakistan. It is the SCO's most populous member.
Is Iran in the SCO?
YesA member since July 2023. It had been an observer since 2005.
Is Belarus in the SCO?
YesThe newest member, since July 2024. It had been an observer since 2015.
Is Saudi Arabia in the SCO?
PartnerA dialogue partner, approved in 2021 together with Egypt and Qatar. It signed its memorandum in 2022.
Is Afghanistan in the SCO?
ObserverAn observer since 2012, still listed. The Taliban government has not been invited to any summit since taking power in 2021.
Is Mongolia in the SCO?
ObserverThe SCO's first observer, since 2004. Mongolia has not sought full membership.
Is Azerbaijan in the SCO?
PartnerA dialogue partner since 2016. In 2024 it asked to become an observer.
Is Turkmenistan in the SCO?
NoIt has no SCO status. Its president attended the 2025 summit in Tianjin as a guest.
Is the United States in the SCO?
NoIt has no SCO status of any kind.
