Tripti Nath/New Delhi
The SCO, a regional eight-member multilateral organization set up in 2001 has emerged as a force to be reckoned with. It is therefore not surprising that all eyes are set on the two-day SCO summit which began in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Friday amidst global tensions.
The 22nd Summit of the Council of Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States (SCO-COHS) brings together leaders of member states- China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and host Uzbekistan. The summit is taking place at a time when the world is witnessing sharp differences between the West, China, and Russia on the issues of sovereignty, democracy, human rights, and economic sanctions to name a few, and the prevailing flux on alliances.
There is an atmosphere of unavoidable unease due to ongoing turbulence in geopolitics, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions over Taiwan.
Guided by conventional wisdom, seasoned world leaders, in particular Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who are keen on a third term, may like to send just the right signals of normalcy in ties from the global stage to constituents back home. The same holds good for Pakistan President Shehbaz Sharif as Pakistan is expected to have polls. In the interest of political continuity, they may for the time being shed the baggage of non-resolution of outstanding issues to project the right bilateral equation.
Prime Minister Modi has been leading the Indian delegation from the time India became a full member in 2017 and participated in the 2020 and 2021 summits in pandemic-necessitated virtual format.
India is well placed to be a neutral arbiter among highly divided factions in the emerging global order because it has always fielded for the common good rather than partisan strategic objectives. Its expectations are simple and have been well articulated by Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra. “ We expect that the discussions during the summit would cover topical, regional and international issues; reform and expansion of SCO; the security situation in the region including strengthening connectivity as well as boosting trade and tourism in the region.’’
India’s participation in the SCO assumes significance because it is expected to do a balancing act by bringing forth main issues of concern to the table including cooperation for economic growth and promotion of trade and investment, challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development and terrorism at a time when there is a danger of SCO being dominated by groups within and against the West.
The bilaterals on the sidelines of the SCO Summit offer an important opportunity to all the member countries to enhance their ties with other members and break the stalemate on crucial issues.
Noted strategic expert Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh is of the opinion that India should make optimum use of every opportunity it has on the global stage by virtue of its membership of regional and multilateral fora, to step up engagement. He said, “ As an emerging power, it is imperative that India taps every available opportunity at every regional and international platform to articulate its viewpoint and assert where necessary. We need to manoeuvre our foreign policy in a manner that best serves our national interests and goals in the dynamic international scenario.’’
The success and failure of SCO would be judged by its potential to address the issues of common interest on the one hand and make way through open-minded bilateral engagements on the sidelines to remove misgivings and open a gateway towards resolving bilateral friction on the other.
It is important for the SCO members to appreciate that the organization is one of the largest multilateral organizations in the world, accounting for 60 percent of the area of Eurasia, 40 percent of the world population, and nearly 30% of the global GDP. The cooperation among SCO members for economic development, building a collective response to climate change, and sustainable development besides combating terrorism will count not only on post-Covid 19 economic recoveries but also contribute to bringing peace and prosperity in the long run.
Being aware of the vast potential of SCO, India has always wished to use this forum for promoting peace, prosperity, and cohesion based on the principle of mutual co-existence and win-win strategies for all the stakeholders. From the time India became a full member of SCO, it has made sincere efforts to encourage peace, prosperity, and stability of the whole Eurasian region in general and SCO member countries in particular.
India has also repeatedly called for deepening cooperation on regional security-related concerns including defense, countering terrorism and illicit drug and narcotics trade,
The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to attend the Summit is being keenly watched by the business communities in the region. India is expected to use the platform to push the agenda of regional and cross-regional connectivity and remove barriers to transport, communication and trade.
Since Pakistan remains obdurate on the issue of removing these barriers, India is expected to push at the Summit the Chabahar Port project and International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to allow the Central Asian countries and SCO members to realize the full potential of trade, economic cooperation and people to people contact.
India, Iran, and Uzbekistan have had a tri-lateral working group since 2020 to seek greater convergence on Chabahar Port and other connectivity projects.
With the SCO members looking up to graduating to the list of high-income countries, uninterrupted energy supply would be crucial. In view of this, the Indian Prime Minister is expected to urge the SCO members to ensure energy cooperation and remove all the glitches in the ongoing projects including Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan-India (TAPI) power transmission line.
SCO has come of age. The Shanghai Five group created in 1996, became the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 with the inclusion of Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan entered the grouping in 2017. There is an expression of interest from four observer states for acquiring full membership including Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia. Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO and India is next in line.
Iran is set to become a permanent member of SCO in 2023 when India takes over as the chair of the bloc. The ongoing summit would initiate the process of Iran becoming a full member of the SCO,
The SCO members are looking up to Modi-steered India with optimism to take the bloc to the next level to make it an effective platform for promoting cooperation for peace, prosperity, and sustainable development.