Zafri Mudasser Nofil
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has finally initiated the process to fulfil India’s long-standing demand for full member status of the six-nation multilateral body focused on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian space.
In its just-concluded annual summit at Tajikistan capital Dushanbe attended among others by the presidents of Russia, China, Afghanistan and Iran, the SCO cleared administrative hurdle to grant membership to India, Pakistan and Iran. SCO has been mainly focusing on two areas – economic developments in the region and security as well as counter terrorism, both of which are of great interest to India.
The China-dominated grouping is increasingly seen as a counterweight to NATO and a membership will give India a greater say on issues like combating terrorism and participation in major oil and gas projects in Central Asia. The SCO comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and has Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers and Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka as dialogue partners.
The SCO was founded at the Summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. At the 2005 Astana Summit, India, Iran and Pakistan were admitted as observers.
India has been associated with the SCO as an observer since 2005 when it participated at the level of External Affairs Minister. Since then, it has attended subsequent summits at the ministerial or lower levels; except for the Yekaterinburg (Russia) Summit in 2009, which was attended by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. India has also been actively participating in all SCO fora open to observers. This included meetings of SCO Ministers for Trade, Transport, Culture, Interior or Home and Emergency Situations; SCO Business Forums and SCO ‘Energy Club’.
In particular, India has been cooperating in the field of counter-terrorism with SCO’s Regional Counter/Anti-Terrorism Structure (RCTS/RATS), based in Tashkent.
The Tashkent SCO Summit in 2010 lifted the moratorium on new membership and paved the way for expansion of this regional grouping. The SCO has since been actively debating in various structured formats, the issue of expansion of the organisation. It is understood that once SCO takes a consensus view on admitting new members, the modalities or formalities to be followed shall be finalized in the subsequent stage.
This year at the Dushanbe summit, India was represented by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who emphasised that India was ready to step up engagement with the SCO and contribute more meaningfully to its activities.
“In keeping with this objective, we have submitted our formal application for the full membership of the SCO to the current SCO chair.
We hope to lay the foundation of a new relationship with the SCO region which will draw strength from our ancient links while preparing together to address the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century,” she said in her address.
“As an observer for almost a decade, India has closely followed the evolution of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. We deeply appreciate the SCO’s constructive and valuable role in promoting peace and prosperity in our region.
We admire its contribution both to regional economic development and regional stability. We have strong and friendly relations with every country of the SCO family, and have proactively participated in various SCO fora. For instance, Indian businessmen participated in the SCO business forum for the first time two days ago. This year, we also participated in the first meeting of the SCO energy club.
We are also greatly encouraged by the visit of the dynamic SCO Secretary General to New Delhi in February this year, when he persuaded us to participate in more SCO events. Following that, India also participated usefully, in the meeting of National Coordinators of SCO Member States, where Observers were invited for the first time in the 6 + 5 format,” Swaraj said.
According to her, India has articulated a ‘Connect-Central Asia’ policy in recent years, to realise the vision of a region connected closely by its common aspiration for a better life for its peoples.
“India is already engaged with several SCO member states in diverse areas such as capacity building and human resource development, information technology, pharmaceuticals and health care, small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship development. We wish to bring to the table our technical expertise, markets and financial commitment, all of which equip us to fulfil greater responsibilities in this forum.
We would specifically like to share our experience in economic areas like banking, capital markets and micro-finance,” she said.
Swaraj also expressed India’s keenness to deepen security-related cooperation with the SCO in general and with the Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure, in particular.
“India has long been a victim of terrorism. We are acutely aware of the threat that its perpetrators pose to our people, as also to our common region.
We are seeing different theatres getting interconnected through terror networks and a globalization of the supply chain of ideology, radicalisation, recruitment, training and financing of terrorism.
This requires a resolute and more comprehensive response from the international community. We are of the firm view that only multilateral efforts and integrated actions can help effectively counter these negative forces including the related evils of drug trafficking and small arms proliferation.”
The process to grant SCO membership to India, Pakistan and Iran is likely to be completed within a year.
Both Russia and China have been favouring India’s permanent membership at the SCO, saying its entry will add weight to the organisation.
However, it is believed that smaller members like Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are not very keen on the SCO’s expansion as they are apprehensive that entry of new countries might shift the focus away from the issues currently being discussed.
India feels an SCO membership will provide it a major platform in pushing its interests in terms of trade and security related issues and more access to major gas and oil exploration projects in central Asia.
The Indian Government is of the view that SCO membership will offer India more opportunities to work closely with China in certain areas including in Afghanistan and Central Asian region.
India is of the contention that the SCO would need to continuously adapt to a changing world and reorient its objectives without necessarily diluting its original vision.
The heads of Government of all SCO member states are scheduled to meet in Kazakhstan capital Astana in December. If things go according to plan, India’s formal induction will be completed then.
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