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SCO Council of Heads of Government adopts 2027 budget in Dushanbe

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: PIB (Ministry of Defence); DD News; SCO Secretariat; SCO Charter

SCO Council of Heads of Government adopts 2027 budget in Dushanbe
Illustration (AI-generated)

The 25th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Council of Heads of Government, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 20 October 2026, adopted a Joint Communiqué with the SCO budget for 2027 and a new action plan for economic cooperation. Representing India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for dismantling the entire ecosystem of terrorism and for connectivity that respects sovereignty.

Syllabus: Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; GS2 · Groupings & Agreements; GS2 · International Institutions

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 international relations, groupings involving India. Prelims can ask what the Council of Heads of Government does under the SCO Charter, the SCO's permanent bodies and the INSTC route; Mains, the SCO's value for India.

Why it matters

For an Indian exporter, the SCO's economic track helps decide whether goods can reach Central Asia, Russia and Europe faster and at lower cost. The 2027 budget keeps the Organisation's bodies running, and the 2026-2030 trade action plan frames the members' joint economic work for the next five years. India's insistence that connectivity respect sovereignty tells partners which routes it will back. Its warning against duplicate bodies matters because every new institution costs money and needs the agreement of all ten members, so a grouping that keeps adding bodies can end up delivering less. Hosting the first Civilisational Dialogue Forum gives India a platform of its own inside the SCO.

Prelims pointers

  • SCO origins: proclaimed on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; all but Uzbekistan were earlier the Shanghai Five.
  • SCO Charter: signed at St Petersburg in June 2002 and in force from 19 September 2003; Article 2 lists respect for territorial integrity among its principles.
  • Membership: India and Pakistan became full members at the Astana summit of 2017; Iran at the New Delhi summit of 2023.
  • The 2002 Charter's two original permanent bodies: the Secretariat in Beijing and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
  • Article 16 of the SCO Charter: suspending or expelling a member needs 'consensus minus one vote' of the state concerned.
  • PMTEC: signed in September 2003 for 20 years; its long-term goal is a free trade zone among members.
  • INSTC route: Mumbai to Chabahar by sea, road to Bandar-e-Anzali on the Caspian, ship to Astrakhan in Russia, then Russian railways into Europe.
  • Chabahar: India and Iran signed an MoU in 2015 to jointly develop its Shahid Beheshti Port; a 16 m draft lets it take large vessels.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), consider the following statements:

1. Under the SCO Charter, the Russian Federation is the Depositary of the Charter.

2. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the SCO has its headquarters in Tashkent.

3. SCO bodies take decisions by agreement without a vote, a decision standing if no member objects.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. China, not Russia, is the Charter's Depositary; statements 2 and 3 restate Articles 10 and 16.

Statement 1: incorrect. Article 25 of the SCO Charter makes the People's Republic of China the Depositary, not the Russian Federation.

Statement 2: correct. Article 10 of the Charter makes the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a permanent SCO body.

Statement 3: correct. Article 16 says SCO bodies decide by agreement without vote; a decision is adopted if no member state objects (consensus).

Eliminate: Statement 1 is incorrect, as Article 25 names China the Depositary. Out: (a), (c), (d).

Trap: Swapped attribution. The Charter was signed at St Petersburg, so Russia sounds like its keeper, but Article 25 names China.

Remember: SCO Charter: China is the Depositary; RATS in Tashkent; decisions by consensus, without a vote.

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