Editing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (section)

=== Developing institutional forms ===

In 2001, the annual summit returned to Shanghai and the group was institutionalized.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}} The five member nations first admitted [[Uzbekistan]] in the Shanghai Five mechanism.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}} On 15 June 2001, all six heads of state signed  the ''Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation'', praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation.<ref name="about-sco" /> From 2001 to 2008, the SCO developed rapidly, establishing a number of permanent bodies and ''ad hoc'' initiatives dealing with economic and security matters.<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|page=95}}

In June 2002, the heads of the SCO member states met in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia and signed the ''SCO Charter'' which expounded on the organisation's purposes, principles, structures and forms of operation. It entered into force on 19 September 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation |url=http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/20170109/190857.html |publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat. |access-date=5 July 2023 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705162001/http://eng.sectsco.org/about_sco/20170109/190857.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In July 2005, at the summit in [[Astana]], Kazakhstan, with representatives of India, Iran, [[Mongolia]] and Pakistan attending an SCO summit for the first time, [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]], the president of the Kazakhstan, greeted the guests in words that had never been used before in any context: "The leaders of the states sitting at this negotiation table are representatives of half of humanity".<ref>Kazinform, 5 July 2005.</ref>

By 2007, the SCO had initiated over twenty large-scale projects related to transportation, energy and telecommunications and held regular meetings of security, military, defence, foreign affairs, economic, cultural, banking, and other officials from its member states.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Agostinis|first1=Giovanni|last2=Urdinez|first2=Francisco|date=20 October 2021|title=The Nexus between Authoritarian and Environmental Regionalism: An Analysis of China's Driving Role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2021.1974887|journal=Problems of Post-Communism|volume=69 |issue=4–5 |pages=330–344|doi=10.1080/10758216.2021.1974887|s2cid=239486136|issn=1075-8216|hdl=11585/909383|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

In July 2015, in [[Ufa]], Russia, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. In June 2016 in [[Tashkent]], both signed the memorandum of obligations, thereby starting the process of joining the SCO.<ref name=IndPakMemo>{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1129533/india-pakistan-edge-closer-joining-sco-security-bloc/|title=India, Pakistan edge closer to joining SCO security bloc|date=24 June 2016|access-date=24 June 2016|agency=Agence France-Presse|via=[[The Express Tribune]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625124459/http://tribune.com.pk/story/1129533/india-pakistan-edge-closer-joining-sco-security-bloc/|archive-date=25 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2017, at a summit in Kazakhstan, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full members.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhattacherjee |first=Kallol |date=9 June 2017 |title=India, Pakistan become full members of SCO |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-pakistan-become-full-members-of-shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco/article62067467.ece |access-date=11 April 2023 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan's Membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) – Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=9 June 2017 |url=https://mofa.gov.pk/pakistans-membership-of-the-shanghai-cooperation-organization-sco/ |access-date=11 April 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2004, the SCO established relations with the [[United Nations]] (where it is an observer in the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]]), the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] in 2005, the [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations]] (ASEAN) in 2005, the [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]] in 2007, the [[Economic Cooperation Organization]] in 2007, the [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]] in 2011, the [[Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia]] (CICA) in 2014, and the [[United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific]] (ESCAP) in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eng.sectsco.org/cooperation/|title=External communication|publisher=Shanghai Cooperation Organisation|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605174306/http://eng.sectsco.org/cooperation/|archive-date=5 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> in 2018, SCO [[Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure]] (RATS) has established relations with the [[African Union]]'s African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofislamabad.com/12-Dec-2018/au-sco-anti-terror-organs-sign-cooperation-deal-on-fighting-terrorism|title=AU, SCO anti-terror organs sign cooperation deal on fighting terrorism|work=Times of Islamabad|access-date=16 December 2018|date=12 December 2018}}</ref>