Consider the following statements about the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): 1. One of the goals of SCO is to promote a new democratic, fair and rational international political and economic order. 2. Iran is a permanent member of SCO. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. Statement 1 reproduces the language the SCO uses about itself: alongside security and economic cooperation, its stated goals include promoting a new democratic, fair and rational international political and economic order — a formulation aimed at what its founders regard as an unbalanced world order. Statement 2 is also correct at the time of the exam: Iran, which applied for membership in September 2021, became a full member on 4 July 2023, at the summit chaired by India. Its accession made it the ninth full member.
- (a)1 only — Correct on the SCO's declared aims but wrong on Iran, which had already moved from observer status to full membership by July 2023, well before this paper.
- (b)2 only — Correct on Iran but rejects the SCO's own stated aim. The 'new international political and economic order' language is part of how the organisation describes its purpose.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Requires both halves to be wrong, which would mean the SCO has no such declared goal and that Iran is still only an observer — neither holds.
The SCO began as the Shanghai Five in the mid-1990s, a border-confidence arrangement between China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and became the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001 when Uzbekistan joined. Its declared preoccupation is the trio it calls the three evils — terrorism, separatism and extremism — handled through a Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, but its charter language ranges much wider, into trade, energy, connectivity and the shape of the international system itself. India and Pakistan became full members together in 2017.
Statement 1 is the harder of the two because it sounds like a slogan a student might reject as too grand for a real charter. The lesson is that organisations often do write exactly such language into their founding documents, so a statement quoting an aim should be tested against the document rather than against plausibility. Statement 2 rewards keeping a membership timeline: 2001 for the six founders, 2017 for India and Pakistan, 2023 for Iran. That last date is also worth updating — Belarus became a full member on 4 July 2024, after this exam, so the SCO now has ten full members and any question asking for the count must be answered for the year it names.
- The SCO's stated goals include promotion of a new democratic, fair and rational international political and economic order.
- Iran applied in September 2021 and became a full member on 4 July 2023.
- Founding members in 2001 — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; India and Pakistan joined in 2017.
- Belarus became the tenth full member on 4 July 2024, after this exam was held.
- Rejecting a charter aim because it sounds like rhetoric.
- Confusing observer status with full membership — Iran was an observer for years before 2023.
- Quoting a membership count without checking the year the question refers to.
As a two-statement item mixing an aim with a membership fact, or as a straight 'which country is not a member'. Learn the accession dates as a short timeline.
Which one of the following is NOT a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?
- (a) Russia
- (b) Kazakhstan
- (c) Ukraine
- (d) Uzbekistan
Answer(c) Ukraine
The same membership question at the other end of the story — the six founders of 2001, before India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus were added.
Consider the following: 1. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank 2. Missile Technology Control Regime 3. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation India is a member of which of the above?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 3 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(d) 1, 2 and 3
Confirms India's own SCO membership from 2017, the fact you need in order to judge whether a later admission such as Iran's is plausible.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Iran became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in which year?
- (a)2017
- (b)2021
- (c)2023
- (d)2024
Answer(c) 2023 — Iran was admitted as a full member on 4 July 2023.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which pair of countries joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as full members in 2017?
- (a)India and Iran
- (b)India and Pakistan
- (c)Pakistan and Belarus
- (d)Iran and Belarus
Answer(b) India and Pakistan — both were admitted as full members in June 2017.