Varanasi nominated as the first-ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital

SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Recently, Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital during the period 2022-2023 at the 22nd Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022.
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had participated in the SCO Summit 2022.

Background: The regulations for nomination of the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital were adopted at the Dushanbe SCO Summit in 2021.
Objective: SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital is adopted with an objective of promoting cooperation between the SCO Member States in the field of culture and tourism.
Significance: The nomination of Varanasi as the first ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital will promote tourism, cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member Countries.
- It also underlines India’s ancient civilizational links with Member States of SCO, especially the Central Asian Republics.
Key Events Planned: Under the framework of the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital outreach program, a number of events will be hosted in Varanasi during 2022-23 for which guests will be invited to participate from SCO Member States.
- These events are expected to attract Indologists, scholars, authors, musicians and artists, photo journalists, travel bloggers and other invited guests.

Varanasi is also known as Banaras or Kashi. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. \
The city is known for Hindu mythology and history. Ancient temples like Kashi Vishwanath is located here.
Gautam Buddha is believed to have given first sermon to his disciples in Varanasi (Sarnath)
The city is linked with spiritualism, yoga, Hindu mythology, culture, and the Sanskrit language.

About SCO: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization created through SCO Charter in 2002 and entered into force in 2003.
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
- Type: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and military organization.
- SCO Secretariat: Shanghai, China.
- Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS): Tashkent
Mandate: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) aims to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.