Uzbekistan and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: From the Shanghai Five to the SCO (1996–2001)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is today one of the world's largest regional organisations. Its roots lie in the mid-1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, in the need to make the long borders between China and its newly independent neighbours peaceful and stable. Uzbekistan is one of the founding members of this organisation, and the key stages of its history are documented with precise dates (Source: Wikipedia — Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; Britannica — SCO).

The Shanghai Five: 26 April 1996

On 26 April 1996 in Shanghai, the leaders of five states — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan — signed the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions. Because of this agreement the group took the name 'Shanghai Five'. In 1997 a second treaty — on the reduction of armed forces in border regions — was signed in Moscow. The aim was to demilitarise vast land borders and strengthen trust and regional cooperation (Source: Wikipedia — SCO; Türkiye MFA — Shanghai Cooperation Organization).

Uzbekistan joins: 15 June 2001

In 2001 Uzbekistan joined the 'Shanghai Five' mechanism. On 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, the heads of all six states — now with Uzbekistan — signed the Declaration on the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. With this document the 'Five' formally became a six-member organisation; Uzbekistan became one of its equal founding members. Thus, in the tenth year of its independence, Uzbekistan emerged as a founder of a major regional structure (Source: Wikipedia — SCO; Britannica — SCO).

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The core aim: against the 'three evils'

One of the SCO's stated main tasks was to provide security in the region, in particular combating what it called the 'three evils' — terrorism, separatism, and extremism. The organisation also set out to develop trade, economic, and cultural cooperation and to build trust among member states. For the Central Asian states this offered a way to address security matters in a multilateral format after independence (Source: Britannica — SCO; Army University Press — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization).

Charter and structure: 2002–2003

In June 2002 in Saint Petersburg the SCO Charter was signed — setting out the organisation's purposes, principles, and structure; the Charter entered into force on 19 September 2003. The organisation's permanent Secretariat was located in Beijing, China. In this way the SCO moved from an informal 'Five' mechanism to a full international organisation with legal standing (Source: Wikipedia — SCO; Britannica — SCO).

Tashkent: the RATS centre (2004)

A stage of particular significance for Uzbekistan came in 2004: at the SCO summit held in Tashkent on 16–17 June, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) formally began work, and its permanent headquarters was located in Tashkent itself. With this, the Uzbek capital became the seat of one of the organisation's principal security bodies (Source: Wikipedia — SCO; SCO RATS information).

Later expansion

The SCO, which started with six members, later expanded: in 2017 India and Pakistan were admitted as full members, in later years Iran also became a member, and a number of states obtained observer or dialogue-partner status. Even so, the organisation's core is still held by the founding states — the 'Shanghai Five' of 1996 and Uzbekistan, which joined in 2001 (Source: Wikipedia — Member states of the SCO; Britannica — SCO).

Why this history matters

Joining the SCO as a founder was one of independent Uzbekistan's first major steps in multilateral diplomacy. Through it the country entered a regional format of security and economic cooperation, and through RATS it took a central place in the organisation's practical work. This stands alongside Uzbekistan's participation in other formats such as the CIS, the UN, and NATO's 'Partnership for Peace' (Source: Britannica — SCO; Army University Press).