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Why SCO matters?
Why it is in news?
- India will attend the SCO summit in Qingdao, China on June 9-10 as a full member.
- Both India and Pakistan were admitted to the grouping at its summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, last June.
- From then to now world politics has undergone several tectonic shifts old assumptions have been challenged, and new variables have entered the mix.
What is the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)?
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- The SCO’s objectives arecentred around cooperation between member nations on security-related concerns, military cooperation, intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism.
- It is mainly aimed at military cooperation between the members and involves intelligence-sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia. T
- he presence of China and India, the world’s most populous countries, would make the SCO the organisation with the largest population coverage.
Who are the permanent members of the SCO?
- The SCO was founded by leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan in 2001. Uzbegistan joined the group later.
- India and Pakistan signed the memoranda for becoming a permanent member of the SCO in 2016. The inclusion of India and Pakistan into the SCO would mean the addition of another 1.45 billion people which would make the grouping cover around 40 per cent of the global population.
Importance of Latest Meeting in China
- The summit provides an opportunity for the Indian and Pakistani leaders to meet informally on the sidelines of a multilateral event.
- The two sides are obliged to cooperate on issues of mutual interest without bringing in their bilateral disputes.
- Signing off on joint counter-terrorism exercises will be a new form of engagement between the two militaries.
- After the frank and fruitful exchanges in Wuhan, the summit will provide the Indian and Chinese leaders another opportunity to meet and talk. Doklam was resolved just before the Xiamen BRICS summit last year; the summit in Qingdao could be another marquee event for China to use to build ties with its neighbours.
- Russia has been India’s staunchest supporter in the SCO having lobbied hard with Beijing for years to ensure its entry into the grouping.
- T New Delhi has been clear that its relationship with Moscow would not be impacted by the West’s approach towards the Kremlin.
- Similar red lines will be in play in India’s dealings with Iran, an observer state that has applied for full SCO membership. India has a powerful strategic interest in Iran’s Chabahar port.
- The Trump administration is hostile to Tehran, but New Delhi has been seeking to signal to Washington the alignment of interests in Chabahar, which allows access to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.
- While the West has been sceptical of India’s sitting down with the less-than-free regimes of Central Asia, Russia and China, New Delhi has always been careful to not signal alignment with these countries on issues of governance.
- The “Shanghai Spirit” — the SCO’s driving philosophy — emphasises harmony, working by consensus, respect for other cultures, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, and non-alignment.
- The SCO’s main objective of working cooperatively against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism, and extremism sits well with New Delhi’s interests.
- Indeed, the SCO summit gives India an opportunity to showcase the kind of power it wants to be.
Source
- The Hindu,
- Indian Express