Rashid A Mughal
THE Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic and security alliance, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The SCO Charter was signed in June 2002. The original five nations, with the exclusion of Uzbekistan, were previously members of the Shanghai Five Group, founded on 26 April 1996. Since then, the organisation has expanded its membership to eight countries when India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Shanghai Five grouping was created on 26 April 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai, China by the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow, Russia. On 20 May 1997, the then President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin and former President of China, Jiang Zemin signed a declaration on a “Multi-polar world”.
Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group were held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1998, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 2000. At the Dushanbe summit, members agreed to “oppose intervention in other countries’ internal affairs on the pretext of ‘humanitarianism’ and ‘protecting human rights;’ and support the efforts of one another in safeguarding the five countries’ national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and social stability.” The SCO as we know it now was originally established under a 1995 Treaty, dubbed the Shanghai Five in 1996 with China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan as members. Uzbekistan joined in 2001 and the group — initially focused closely on military and border matters between China and what had been the Soviet Union until 1991 — transformed into the SCO, with ambitions of deeper cooperation. By 2007 the SCO had initiated over twenty large-scale projects related to transportation, energy and telecommunications and held regular meetings of security, military, defence, foreign affairs, economic, cultural, banking and other officials from its member states The perpetual tumult of India-Pakistan relations was a concern for regional observers — can the SCO’s Shanghai Spirit — “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development” as the Chinese put it — thrive if some of its members are on the edge of conflict with regularity? The answer is broadly yes: The SCO has weathered conflict between members in the past with a combination of ignoring tensions between members and platitudes about respect for internal affairs and appeals for stability. But at the same time, that status quo also arguably hamstrings the group’s ability to operate beyond the boundaries of talk shops and counter-terrorism exercises, not to mention undercuts in its international credibility. Without question, the inclusion of India and Pakistan gave the SCO a broader region and a larger percentage of the world’s population. Yet it also introduced new points of friction that undercut the believability of the Shanghai Spirit.
If in 2019, India-Pakistan tensions had hit a new low, no one could fathom how low India-China relations would tumble in 2020. As India and China stand on the brink of war in the Himalayas, their Foreign Ministers gathered in Moscow while the SCO, as a group, made no mention of the tensions though that was the key topic in several of the sideline conversations between various ministers. The statement after the September 10 meeting contains all the usual diplomatic jargon plus necessary and anodyne references to the pandemic. There’s an endorsement of a “multipolar world,” and the predictable hailing of the 75th anniversary of the “victory of the peoples over Nazism, fascism and militarism”. There are references to terrorism alongside separatism and other security matters, including keeping space free of weapons. Afghanistan scored its usual paragraph, stressing an Afghan-led peace process. There’s something quite remarkable that two members of the SCO — this time China and India — could be experiencing such extreme tension in their bilateral relationship but still gather for the SCO. Russia, which holds the SCO’s rotating presidency for 2019-2020, managed to gather the Foreign Ministers in Moscow despite the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, besides being a diplomatic success for Russia for bringing China, Pakistan and India at the same table in spite of border skirmishes between them. This also indicates the importance which the member states attach to this forum in the context of regional co-operation and improving bilateral relations between member countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the group via videolink. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) prompts a diversion from the collective tone. The statement expresses support for the BRI from the Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan — India is noticeably, but not surprising, left off that list. The membership of SCO is particularly important for Pakistan for a number of reasons. First, it has brought Pakistan close to Russia which had been an erstwhile ally of India. The thaw and coolness between their relationship has kept on narrowing since the U-2 flight incidence from Badaber airbase, Peshawar in 1960. Second, it has given Pakistan access to markets in landlocked CIS states and even Russia. China and Pakistan already part of CPEC and B.R.I can offer access to these countries to Gwader port which will open a gateway for these countries besides generation of revenue for Pakistan. Third, the SCO membership has lessened the dependence of Pakistan on America which has proved to be an untrustworthy friend. Pakistan scored a major diplomatic victory at the conference when the new Pakistan map was displayed to which the Indian Foreign Minister objected but was over-ruled by the Russian Foreign Minister who was chairing the session. The Indian foreign minister had no option but to walk out of the conference to register his protest on the decision.
— The writer is former DG (Emigration) and consultant ILO, IOM.
