Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Context- This year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit to be held in September 2022, Varanasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first “Tourism and Cultural Capital for 2022-23. The SCO summit will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan where Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest additions to the SCO. India will host the SCO summit next year 2023.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
About the initiative
- Varanasi’ “Cultural and Tourism Capital” has been decided under a new rotating initiative to promote people-to-people contacts and tourism among the member states.
- Each year a city of the cultural heritage of a member country that will take over the rotating Presidency of the organisation will get the title to highlight its prominence.
- The new initiative will come into force after the Samarkand summit following which India will take over the Presidency and host the next Heads of the State summit.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Why SCO want its expansion?
- SCO’s international influence is rising, and the principles of the SCO charter are being widely accepted.
- Using expansion as a tool, China & Russia want to counter the West, especially the NATO. But there is sharp difference between these two groupings expansion. NATO’s expansion is based on Cold war thinking i.e., creating new enemies to sustain its own existence.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
About SCO
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.
- It came into existence on 15th June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism. Shanghai Five (Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan) (1996) emerged from a series of border demarcation and demilitarization talks which the four former Soviet republics held with China to ensure stability along the borders.
- Following the accession of Uzbekistan to the organization in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St. Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003. This is the fundamental statutory document which outlines the organisation’s goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.
- In June 2017 Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan got status of full membership of SCO.
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Shanghai Cooperation Organization
SCO’s Goal-
- strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states.
- promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology, and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas.
- making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security, and stability in the region.
- moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair, and rational new international political and economic order.
- Heads of State Council: It is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO. It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.
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Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Heads of Government Council: meets once a year to discuss the organisation’s multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas, to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues, and also to approve the organisation’s annual budget.
- In addition to Heads of State Council and Heads of Government council meetings, there is also a mechanism of meetings at the level of heads of parliament; secretaries of Security Councils; ministers of foreign affairs, defence, emergency relief, economy, transport, culture, education, and healthcare; heads of law enforcement agencies and supreme and arbitration courts; and prosecutors general. The Council of National Coordinators of SCO Member States (CNC) acts as the SCO coordination mechanism.
- Official Language: The SCO’s official languages are Russian and Chinese.
- SCO has two permanent bodies- the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.
- At present, SCO has eight member states-Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
- Observer states- SCO has four observer states i.e., Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Mongolia.
- Dialogue partners- Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Indian and SCO
- India was granted Observer status at the July 2005 Astana Summit, and subsequently participated in all SCO forums open to Observers. In June 2017, India was granted the status of full members.
- India’s entry into SCO as a full member has been further activated with the establishment of the SCO Division in MEA (Ministry of external affairs) and appointment of National Coordinator and Permanent Representative to SCO.
- Since 2017, there has been regular participation by India in various SCO meetings.
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Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Significance of SCO
- Asian power bloc- The group covers 42 % of the world population and 20 % of the GDP. This, along with the presence of 3 major global powers, makes the SCO a major power bloc.
- Energy Security- Central Asia has large untapped reserves of energy sources such as natural gas, while China and India are frontrunners in photovoltaics and solar energy. Utilising this potential, the SCO nations could discuss the creation of an Asian energy grid.
- Security cooperation-To counter the threats from radicalism and terrorism, the members can work together in intelligence sharing, law enforcement developing technologies and sharing best practices.
- Military and disaster relief- Under the aegis of SCO, regular large-scale joint military and disaster relief exercises have been organized. e.g., Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue.
- Potential expansion of cooperation-There have been discussions of a number of other entities being created, like an SCO Bank, SCO University and various other forms of cooperation.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Why SCO important for India?
- Foster a polycentric world-The SCO shares India’s perspectives on several matters, such as an emphasis on multilateralism, creating a new economic structure for the world and counter terrorism.
- Initiate institutional reforms-Global reforms have become more relevant in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. Support of SCO is vital in the efforts towards reforming the UN, WHO, WTO etc.
- Afghan crisis- The rise of Taliban in Afghan has increased security and strategic concerns for India. Since Russia, China and Pakistan are actively cooperating with the Taliban, India can utilize the platform to address these concerns and seek a greater role in rebuilding Afghanistan.
- Access to Central Asia- Central Asia and eastern Europe are largely underdeveloped markets, offering an entrée for Indian exporters and investors. Hence, developing trade and investment pacts through the SCO can be beneficial for India. Central Asia has large reserves of minerals and energy, such as bauxite and natural gas. Investing in these reserves can help India expand its mineral basket, diversify its imports, and promote Indian industries worldwide.
- Resolve bilateral disputes- SCO can act as a mediating platform for India, Pakistan, and China to discuss their long-standing issues.
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Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Challenges with SCO
- China’s hegemony- China has strong connections with the SCO members. For e.g.: India’s bilateral trade with Central Asia stands at about USD 2 billion while China’s trade with Central Asia stands at over USD 50 billion. This limits India’s scope of strengthening engagements with the SCO.
- Lack of physical connectivity- There are obstructions of physical connectivity due to Pakistan’s hostility and Afghan’s instability. This hampers development of close ties between the Central Asian region and India.
- Internal conflicts-
- India-China- Belt & Road project and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, recurring border disputes, support for Pakistan and expanded its military and economic presence in the Indian Ocean have resulted in a strained relationship between India and China.
- India-Pak- There have been attempts to push for bilateral talks to sort out differences between India and Pakistan by other powers. This goes directly against India’s stand that all issues with Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally.
- India-US relations- China and Russia do not have cordial relations with USA, while India is seeking closer ties through logistics agreements and Quad. This is complicating the dynamics within the group.
- Intelligence sharing- The India-Pak-China conflict raise the question of intelligence sharing within the SCO’s anti-terrorist structures, as it could lead to India sharing critical data with Pakistan and China.
- Linguistic barrier- Despite admitting India and Pakistan as members, the SCO Secretariat maintains its exclusive reliance on Russian and Chinese languages.
- SCO Structure- shown below in flow chartWay Forward
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SCO Way Forward
Indian soft power already has considerable influence in Central Asia, far more than China. For instance, Bollywood movies are much enjoyed, compared with Chinese entertainment. However, India has to make further inroads into the region. This can be done via:
- Take up a stronger role- India can seek to capitalize on Russian and Central Asian states’ concerns about China exercising disproportionate influence in Central Asia. But in order to succeed, India should improve its own standing in the region.
- Strengthen presence in the region- The opening of Chabahar port and entry into Ashgabat agreement should be utilized for a stronger presence in Eurasia and progressing the talks on International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
- Greater cooperation on Afghan issue: In order not to get isolated on the Afghan issue, India should find greater understanding with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan (KUT), and Russia. The KUT can form a more reliable partner for India within the SCO.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
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