New Delhi, Sept. 3 -- The SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summit held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan that concluded on Tuesday (Sep 1) marked the 25th anniversary of the China-led grouping that began as the Shanghai Five in April 1996.

The original members were China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. This became the SCO in June 2001 when Uzbekistan also joined and at that time the primary focus was on stabilizing the newly formed Central Asian states - the five 'stans' after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in December 1991. Turkmenistan has chosen to be neutral and is outside this grouping.

The membership has since grown and currently the SCO has ten full members: the original six plus India and Pakistan (joi...