Which of the following statements with regard to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is/are correct? 1. The official languages of the SCO are Russian and Chinese. 2. The SCO enjoys observer status in the UN General Assembly. 3. The SCO consists of 13 member states. Select the answer using the code given below :
- (a)1 only
- (b)1 and 3
- (c)1 and 2
- (d)2 and 3
Correct — C, 1 and 2. Statement 1 is right: the two official languages of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are Chinese and Russian, which is why every SCO document is issued in that pair and translation is provided at summits for the other members. Statement 2 is right as well: the organisation was granted observer status in the United Nations General Assembly in 2004, and its relationship with the UN dates from that year. Statement 3 is the false one. The SCO began in 2001 with six members — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — took in India and Pakistan together in 2017, admitted Iran in July 2023 and Belarus in July 2024. That makes ten members at the time this paper was written, not thirteen. The number thirteen is probably an echo of the observer and dialogue-partner list, which is much longer than the membership.
- (a)1 only — Keeps only the languages point and drops the UN observer status, which the SCO has held since 2004.
- (b)1 and 3 — Pairs a true statement with the false membership count. The SCO had ten members when this paper was set, not thirteen.
- (d)2 and 3 — Keeps the false membership count and drops the true languages point. The official languages are Chinese and Russian, not the working languages of the wider membership.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation grew out of the Shanghai Five of 1996, a border-confidence grouping of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. With Uzbekistan joining, it was formally founded on 15 June 2001. Its declared purposes are regional security — the 'three evils' of terrorism, separatism and extremism — economic cooperation and the promotion of a more democratic and equitable international order. Its permanent bodies are the Secretariat at Beijing and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure at Tashkent.
Two of the three statements are the kind of institutional fact that never changes, while the third is a headcount that does. That is a common design: the stable statements are true and the moving number is the trap. Track the membership by the dates it changed — six in 2001, eight in 2017 with India and Pakistan, nine with Iran in 2023, ten with Belarus in July 2024, less than two months before this exam. India hosted the summit in 2023 and chaired the SCO Heads of State Council that year, which is why the grouping was heavily in the news in the run-up to this paper.
- The official languages of the SCO are Chinese and Russian.
- The SCO has held observer status in the United Nations General Assembly since 2004.
- It was founded on 15 June 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, building on the Shanghai Five of 1996.
- India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, Iran in July 2023 and Belarus in July 2024 — ten members in all at the time of this exam.
- The Secretariat is at Beijing and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure at Tashkent.
- 1996 — the Shanghai Five: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
- 15 June 2001 — Uzbekistan joins and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is founded with six members
- 2004 — the SCO is granted observer status in the United Nations General Assembly
- 2017 — India and Pakistan admitted together, taking the membership to eight
- July 2023 — Iran admitted, making nine
- July 2024 — Belarus admitted, making ten, weeks before this paper was set
Two settled institutional facts and one moving number. The count in the paper, thirteen, was never the membership.
- Confusing members with observers and dialogue partners; the wider list is much longer than the membership.
- Assuming the official languages must include English because the summits are reported in it.
- Freezing the membership at eight; Iran joined in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.
As a multi-statement item mixing institutional facts with a membership count, or as a direct question on who is or is not a member.
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
The membership side of the same organisation. India joined the SCO as a full member in 2017, which is the fact that item rests on and the starting point for counting the membership this one asks about.
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
Answer(c) Both 1 and 2
The same organisation in the previous session's paper, and between them the two items give you the membership sequence: Iran's admission in 2023 there, Belarus's in 2024 here.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has its headquarters in which one of the following cities?
- (a)Beijing
- (b)Tashkent
- (c)Astana
- (d)Moscow
Answer(b) Tashkent — while the SCO Secretariat is at Beijing.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following countries became a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in July 2024?
- (a)Iran
- (b)Belarus
- (c)Mongolia
- (d)Turkmenistan
Answer(b) Belarus — the tenth member, admitted a year after Iran.