Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
- The SCO emerged out of the Shanghai Five, created in 1996 with China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan as founding members.
- In 2001, the Shanghai Five was expanded and renamed SCO with the inclusion of Uzbekistan. In 2005, Pakistan, India, Iran and Mongolia joined as observers.
- During the 17th SCO summit in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, Pakistan became an SCO member on June 9, 2017
- Moscow supported New Delhi’s bid for membership, Beijing, arguably the main player in the SCO, supported Islamabad’s bid
The main objectives of the SCO are to (i) strengthen relations among member states; (ii) promote cooperation in political affairs, economics and trade, scientific-technical, cultural, and educational spheres as well as in energy, transportation, tourism, and environmental protection; (iv) safeguard regional peace, security, and stability; and (v) create a democratic, equitable international political and economic order.
Some have described it as the beginning of a new organization resembling the Warsaw Pact (or a “NATO of the East”).
Benefits of SCO membership for Pakistan:
- Opportunity to improve its relations with the regional countries by facilitating trade through the Gwadar port, contributing to a regional solution to the Afghanistan issue, addressing its worsening energy crisis, as well as learning from and contributing to the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).
- it is imperative that using the SCO platform, these states develop a joint strategy to address the Afghanistan problem and ISIS threat.
- Develop defence ties with Russia
- Pakistan provides natural link and route for other SCO members to access the Indian Ocean
- Islamabad can provide SCO member states with preferential access to Gwadar.
- Import oil and gas from SCO countries (Uzbekhistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhistan) and fix energy problem
- Learning from and contributing to Regional Anti Terrorist Structure
Pak-India ties in SCO:
- India also needs to exercise caution in using the SCO to highlight the Kashmir problem, as China can raise the Tibet issue and India’s sheltering of the Dalai Lama in response.
- While India can use the SCO to voice its concerns over Islamabad’s alleged support for terrorism in India, China has so far supported Pakistan on this issue, including through its recent veto to a UN resolution designating Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Muhammad a wanted terrorist.
Challenges for Pakistan:
- Despite immense potential, Islamabad’s trade and economic relations with most SCO members, aside from China, are minimal
Challenges for SCO overall:
- Russia and China have been labelled as “long-standing strategic competitors of the USA”, though both powers have defensive nuclear doctrines.
Recommendations for Improvement in Working of SCO:
- there is need to consolidate solidarity and coordination,
- all of the SCO members are facing security challenges which needs joint efforts of the member countries to tackle them.
- practical cooperation are needed
- fourthly, people-to-people and cultural bonds are needed to be enhanced.
- openness and inclusiveness should be maintained
Role of SCO for Indo-Pak Peace:
- 18th SCO Summit held on June 9-10 2018 where Pak- India participated as full members for first time. A three year program was announced: joint drills and counter-terror operations, streamlining a closer exchange of experience and operational information
- RATS facilitates members to act collectively against transnational terrorism.
- SCO charter article 2, prevents interference, aggression, seeking unilateral military superiority in adjacent areas,
- It was in 2018 that India and Pakistan had come together for a joint military exercise under the umbrella of the SCO. Even though both together under UN Peacekeeping, but this is the first time they engaged in a counter-terrorism activity together
- However, in August 2020 India withdrew from the SCO military exercise — Kavkaz-2020 — that was scheduled to be held in southern Russia in September last year as it did not want to perform drills with Chinese soldiers amid tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
- “The RATS mechanism of SCO can play a constructive role in monitoring these flows (drugs, illegal weapons and human trafficking) and enhancing information-sharing
- The “Peace Mission 2021” counter-terrorism military drill in sept, Russia
- Pakistan sent delegation to India to participate in a cyber security seminar being hosted by India under the framework of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS)
- Pak and India inclusion can allow SCO to tackle terrorism, extremism and separatism which fuels poverty, unorganised crime,
- SCO Youth Council to “actively participate in our work on preventing the recruitment of young people to participate in terrorist activities.”
- Post-withdrawal, Russia and China are pushing for SCO to be used as a platform
- CPEC can be connected to 6 main trade corridors of SCO
- Unlike SAARC, India and Pak are not two dominant poles in SCO.