India emphasized its priority in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to ensure security, respect for sovereignty and integrity, and economic cooperation among member states at a meeting chaired by home minister Amit Shah on Thursday. The SECURE topic, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined at the SCO Summit in Qingdao in 2018, is India’s top focus as it chairs the Council of Heads of State for the first time after becoming a full member state in 2017. According to Shah, this stands for S- Security, E- Economic Cooperation, C- Connectivity, and U- Unity.
Shah emphasised to the group that the SCO is currently the largest regional organisation in the world, accounting for 40% of the world’s population, 25% of its GDP, and 22% of its total land area. He stated that the SCO is the ideal global forum for coordinating collaboration with all of the member nations and that India places a high priority on fostering discourse on complex political, security, and economic concerns.
Shah presided over a meeting of heads of departments from SCO countries responsible for the prevention and abolition of emergency situations and stated that New Delhi places a special emphasis on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and is set to share its knowledge and experience in this field in order to promote greater cooperation and mutual trust among SCO members. He asserted that the summit will offer fresh chances for member countries to work together and would reinforce India’s commitment to enhancing the SCO’s standing in international fora.
The home minister identified five key areas to work on to further strengthen the approach of the SCO – confidence-building efforts in Asia, collective responsibility approach, expanding cooperation in communication and information sharing, identification of priority areas, and the use of newly developed technology in disaster resilience capacity building. A common responsibility strategy for disaster resilience, according to Shah, will improve cooperation among SCO member nations. Member states can boost the region’s overall approach to disaster resilience by avoiding duplication of efforts and resources through the pooling of resources and expertise.
By exchanging best practises in communication, coordinating response efforts, and exchanging real-time information, according to Shah, SCO member nations can increase their collaboration in emergency situations. A prompt, specialised, and coordinated reaction to emergency circumstances can be ensured with the use of effective communication and information exchange.