SCO TOURISM MINISTERS’ MEET
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Context: India put forward an action plan as a mark to 2023 being celebrated as the year of tourism development in the SCO tourism ministers’ conference held in Varanasi
Details:
- Union Tourism Minister was the chair of the meet
- The aim of the joint action plan includes the promotion of the following:
- SCO tourism brand
- The cultural heritage of member states
- Sharing of information and digital technologies in tourism
- Mutual cooperation in medical and health tourism.
- Other joint activities such as the SCO tourism exhibition, SCO Food Festival, webinars and seminars etc would also be undertaken.
- Action Plan for ‘Year of Tourism Development in the SCO Space in 2023’ was also adopted by the member states.
- Varanasi is the first tourism and cultural capital of SCO.
About SCO:
- It is 8 members multilateral organization
- It was established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai with China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its members
History:
- The treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions led to the formation of the Shanghai Five group (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan) on 26 April 1996.
- Uzbekistan was admitted in 2001.
- In 2001 the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organization was signed.
- India, Iran and Pakistan were granted Observer status in the 2005 summit which was held in Astana.
- In the Ufa summit of 2015, it was decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members.
- They officially joined SCO as full- members at the 2017 Astana Summit.
Structure:
- Permanent Bodies include the SCO Secretariat in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
- The Chairmanship of SCO is rotated amongst the Member States for one year.
- The Council of Heads of States is the apex decision-making body in the SCO.
- A meeting is held every year in any one of the member’s capital cities.
- The Council of Heads of Governments is the second-highest body. Here members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation and approve the organization's budget.
- The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) serves to promote the cooperation of member states against terrorism, separatism and extremism. It is headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
- The Secretariat of the SCO is the primary executive body. It is located in Beijing. Functions are:
- Implementation of the organizational decisions and decrees
- Acts as a document depository for the organization
- Arranges specific activities within the SCO framework
- Promotion of information about the SCO.
- The official working languages are Chinese and Russian.
Observer States:
- Afghanistan
- Belarus
- Iran
- Mongolia
Dialogue Partners:
- Sri Lanka
- Turkey
MUST READ: https://www.iasgyan.in/blogs/sco-summit-an-analysis
PRACTICE QUESTION Q) Which of the following statements is/are correct with reference to Shanghai Cooperation Organization? a. The Council of Heads of Governments is the highest body. b. The official working languages are Chinese and Russian.
Answer: Option 2 |