Some three weeks from now, Pakistan will be hosting the Heads of Govern-ment (CHG) of the Shanghai Cooperation organization (SCO). Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental organization for cooperation. Its members in-clude Pakistan, China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uz-bekistan and Belarus. Besides, three countries have Observers status and another fourteen enjoy Dialogue Partner status.
SCO has a broad agenda encompassing cooperation in trade, economy, tech-nology, culture, energy, communications and environment. It seeks to make joint en-deavours for peace and stability in the region to create a just and rational political and economic international order.
SCO offers Pakistan an opportunity to realize the economic dividends of its geographical position. Pakistan is located at the crossroads of three important regions: Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia. Its direct border with China and CPEC mas-sively add to its economic potential. This location is at the confluence of an ancient silk road. Pakistan’s position on the map is a great economic asset that it must make full use of. Largely because of the situation in Afghanistan, this has so far remained a liability more than an asset.
That comes on the top of strong historical and cultural bonds that Pakistan has with these regions. Strength of these cultural and historical links simply cannot be overstated. Region that constitutes Pakistan today has been a melting pot of South, Central and West Asian cultures for more than a thousand years. Mughals came from Central Asia with their strong contribution to the Urdu language. Well over a thou-sand years ago Shah Rukn-i-Aalam and Bahauddin Zakria came from Uzbekistan. Shams Sabzwari had come from Iran. Mahiwal of famous love story Sohni Mahiwal was from Uzbekistan. For Pakistan, strengthening its communications, trade and other economic links with SCO members is important. Pakistan hosted an SCO Trade and Economy Minis-ters’ meeting earlier this month. This meeting approved Pakistan’s proposal to strengthen and facilitate cooperation between the Trade Promotion Organization of the member countries. ‘If’ made use of, that can help Pakistan diversify its trading part-ners and export commodities.
SCO says it underpins the principles of “Shanghai Spirit”. The Declaration that established SCO in 2001 said Shanghai Spirit embodies mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, joint consultations, respect for cultural diversity and aspiration for collective development. It was developed and felt during handling difficult border and security issues in the post Cold War period in late 1990s.
Today, we are living in a world marked by discontent. 35 years after the Cold War have seen much more of war than 45 years of cold war. And that continues un-abated. As we speak, world is seeing genocide in Gaza and war Ukraine. Pain of genocide in Gaza is being felt and protested against by the publics across the globe. Signs of immediate end to either of the two is nowhere in sight. Trust in the rule-based international system or the United Nations ability to deliver peace, security and justice is at its lowest ebb.
On the economic front, Developing countries have for long felt betrayed and deprived of their due rights; on trade rules, on monetary discipline and on social is-sues.WTO system is weakening by the day with protectionism showing a robust comeback. Not that the WTO system was just and fair, but fear is that its collapse would be worse than its existence; a law of the jungle. On the environment, nations that polluted the environment for centuries are unwilling to shoulder their full respon-sibilities. In this air of discontent, hearing about Shanghai spirit comes like music to the ears. But hold on, words in diplomatic statements are always good and pleasing. Real challenge is in their implementation, especially when it comes to reconciling differ-ences between nations with diverse ethos and policies. How does that translate into the SCO context.
India has an irresistible itch to mess with all its neighbors. Two of its neighbors Pakistan and China sit next to it on SCO Conference tables and co-author joint state-ments and documents with it. One such document is ‘Comprehensive Action Plan (2023-2027) for Implementation of Long-Term Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Coop¬eration among the SCO Members.
India’s opposition to CPEC runs diametrically opposed to Shanghai spirit. In SCO too, India has brought in a bilateral agenda. Poor diplomatic behavior, void of accepted norms, displayed by India during Pakistan Foreign Minister’s visit to India to attend SCO Meeting in 2023 was a clear statement of India putting bilateral disputes above multilateralism. Recall the Charter of the SCO calls for “equality and mutual benefit, resolution of all issues through mutual consultations, non-interference in in-ternal affairs, non-use or threat of use of military force, and renunciation of unilat-eral military superiority in neighboring areas”.
India has a long history of putting regionalism subservient to bilateral issues. SAARC lost its steam because of repeated brakes applied by India on bilateral issues. India’s decision to participate or not in the upcoming SCO meeting in Islamabad will be important in assessing its respect for multilateralism, regional approach and Shanghai spirit.
Finally, for quite a while Pakistan has not hosted a major international event. Successful hosting a meeting of Heads of Government will provide us an opportunity for diplomatic showcasing and sending a message of our commitment to Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Shanghai spirit. To what extent, Shanghai spirit trans-lates into reality remains to be seen. But certainly it requires a sincere effort on the part of all stakeholders.
—The writer is Retd Ambassador based in Islamabad.
