Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) | UPSC
HEADLINES:
Russia kicks off Caspian war games
WHY IN NEWS:
Amid Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict, Moscow says they pose no threat to any State
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : International grouping : India and other nation & institutions
LEARNING:
For PRELIMS we thinks operations of CSTO are very important . Take your Prelims copy and note them down .Just like Amber box question in the last Prelims .
For MAINS go through weaknesses of this organisation . Let us dive in now !
ISSUE:
RUSSIA IN CASPIAN SEA
- Russia is insisting there was no threat to neighbouring states as Armenia and Azerbaijan battle over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
- The war games are taking place north of Azerbaijan’s Absheron peninsula, where Baku is located, and will include artillery and rocket fire.
Absheron Peninsula | Sources : Wiki Commons
- They involve six ships, seven planes and more than 400 servicemen.
- Russia has so far kept its distance from the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
CSTO EXERCISE
- CSTO forces have also been taking part in joint military exercises this week in Belarus.
- The exercises are called “Indestructible Brotherhood”.
COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATY ORGANISATION
THE LAUNCH
- The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a Russia-led military alliance of seven former Soviet states that was created in 2002.
- It has been described by political scientists as the Eurasian counterpart of NATO, which has 29 member states, while the CSTO has just six.
- The organization supports arms sales and manufacturing as well as military training and exercises.
HEADQUARTERS
Moscow , Russia.
MEMBER NATIONS
- Current CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan.
- Afghanistan and Serbia hold observer status in the CSTO.
- In 1993, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia joined the Treaty.
- The Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 for five-year period.
- Six member-states (except Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan) signed a protocol renewing the Treaty for another five-year period in 1999.
- It consists of Permanent and Plenipotentiary representatives.
- Uzbekistan again became a CSTO member in 2006 but then withdrew its membership in 2012.
WHAT DOES CSTO MEMBERSHIP PROVIDE?
- While CSTO membership means that member states are barred from joining other military alliances, limiting, for example, their relationship with NATO.
- Most importantly, membership presumes certain key security assurances – the most significant of which is deterring military aggression by third countries.
- In the CSTO, aggression against one signatory is perceived as aggression against all.
- It however remains unclear whether this feature works in practice.
STRUCTURE OF THE CSTO
- The Collective Security Council (CSC) is the highest body of the CSTO and comprises the heads of member states.
- The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs is the executive and advisory body of the CSTO.
- They coordinate member states’ activities in foreign policy.
- The Committee of Secretaries coordinate member states in ensuring national security.
- The Permanent Council coordinates member states in implementing decisions made by CSTO bodies in periods between CSC sessions.
- The Secretariat is a permanent working body of the CSTO that provides organizational, informational, analytical, and consultative support to the various CSTO bodies.
- The Joint Staff is another permanent working body which prepares proposals on military activities.
GOVERNING COUNCIL
- The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was established on May 14, 2002.
- The Charter of the Organization was adopted on October 7, 2002.
- The CSTO received the status of observer at the United Nations General Assembly on December 2, 2004.
- The Council is composed of the Heads of the Member States.
- The Chairman of the Council is the head of the country holding the Chairmanship of the Organization.
DELIBERATIONS
- The Council discusses the fundamental issues of the Organization’s activities and makes decisions aimed at the realization of its goals and objectives.
- The council also ensures the coordination and joint activities of the Member States to achieve these goals.
THE SUBSIDIARY BODIES OF THE CSTO
- Interstate Commission for Military Economic Cooperation discusses and drafts recommendations aimed at ensuring multilateral military-economic cooperation in a number of areas.
- To manage the day-to-day activities of the Commission an Interstate Commission for Military-Economic Cooperation Secretary is appointed from the staff of the CSTO Secretariat.
THE WORKING GROUPS OF THE CSTO
- The Working Group on Afghanistan
- The Military Committee
- Working Group on Information Policy and Security.
Under the aegis of the Organization the following operations are conducted:
- “CANAL’’ operation : Anti-drug regional operation
- “NELEGAL” operation : To counter the illegal migration and human trafficking
- “PROXY” operation : To counter the crimes in the cyberspace
- “NAYOMNIK” operation : To prevent the possible involvement of the citizens of CSTO member states in the terrorist activities and to eliminate the resources of the international terrorist organizations .
COLLECTIVE RAPID REACTION FORCES
- The CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces were formed on February 4 2009, to address the security threats and challenges of the CSTO member states.
- On October 6, 2007 the agreement on the CSTO peacekeeping activity was signed.
- The delegations were headed by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense and the Secretary of Security Council.
IASbhai WINDUP:
WEAKNESSES
- While the CSTO nominally provides equal standing to member states, it was clearly conceived by Russia as a multilateral institution to project its power regionally.
- It presents a foreign policy challenge as Russian aims do not always align with other CSTO members’ interests.
- Moreover, institutional weaknesses, the organization’s inability to react to aggression by third countries on its members, points to the inefficacy of the organization.
SOURCES:THE HINDU | Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) | UPSC
DISCOVER MORE : GS-2
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for Daily Current Affairs , Editorial Analysis & Answer writing video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.