Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit

General Studies Paper-2

Context: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

About

• Belarus joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), becoming its 10th member state.
• Belarus became a dialogue partner in the SCO in 2010 and an observer state in 2015.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• The SCO is an intergovernmental organization founded in 2001 with six members.
• Objective: To enhance regional cooperation for efforts to curb terrorism, separatism, and extremism in the Central Asian region.
• Members: China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran.
• Secretariat: Beijing
• Official languages: Russian and Chinese.
• Observer status: Afghanistan and Mongolia.
• The SCO has been an observer in the UN General Assembly since 2005.

Significance of SCO

• Security Focus: The SCO is one of the few international organizations that primarily deals with security issues in Asia. This includes combating terrorism, separatism, and extremism, which are major concerns for its member states.
• Regional Influence: China and Russia position the SCO as a counterbalance to Western-dominated international organizations.
• Expanding Membership: The recent inclusion of Belarus is seen as a move to enhance the organization’s international status and influence.
• Strategic Counterbalance: Along with the BRICS, the SCO is part of a broader effort by China and Russia to establish an alternative international order. This positions them against US and Western influence in global affairs.

Relevance for India

• Enhanced Cooperation with Central Asia: SCO membership provides India with a platform to strengthen its ties with Central Asian countries.
• Security Collaboration: The SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) is crucial for India’s counterterrorism efforts. RATS assists member states in preparing and conducting counterterrorism exercises, analyzing intelligence, and sharing information on terrorist movements and drug trafficking.
• Multilateral Engagement: Being part of the SCO allows India to engage in multilateral diplomacy, enhancing its role and influence in regional and global affairs.

Concerns

• The relevance of the organization comes into question given the difficulty in managing ties among the partners. India shares strained relationships with China and Pakistan at present.
• The New Delhi Declaration issued at the end of the leaders summit, 2023 saw India refuse to sign off on a paragraph supporting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
  • India’s opposition to the BRI comes from its constituent China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is proposed to pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Way Ahead

• The SCO needs more engagements with its observer states, dialogue partners and other regional and international organizations such as the United Nations, to uphold the UN-centered international system and the international order based on international law.
• To contribute to high-quality and resilient economic growth of the region, there need to be collective efforts to scale up local currency settlement between SCO members, expand cooperation on sovereign digital currency, and promote the establishment of an SCO development bank.