India's entry into SCO injects new vitality into the organization

Rabi Sankar Bosu

At the invitation of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a state visit to Kazakhstan from June 8 to 9, 2017. During his visit, Modi attended the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the opening ceremony of the World Expo held in Astana which was also attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 9, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Yao Dawei]

The Astana SCO summit is of great significance and has received much attention in the light of the accession of India and Pakistan to the prestigious SCO consortium, seen as a counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). India is not unfamiliar with the SCO. In fact, with 12 years as an observer nation, it has developed a deep association with the organization.

The 17th SCO summit is historic as the China-initiated organization has formally accepted the twin admission of India and Pakistan, two South Asian rivals, the first ever expansion since its inception.

The SCO was founded at a Summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan with an aim to strengthen relations among member states and promote cooperation in political affairs, economics and trade.

India was admitted into the SCO as an observer at the 2005 Astana Summit along with Iran and Pakistan. Since then India has been participating seriously in the ministerial-level meetings of the regional grouping. The Tashkent SCO Summit in June 2010 had lifted the moratorium on new membership, paving the way for the expansion of the grouping. The membership process for India and Pakistan started at the SCO Ufa Summit in 2015. A memorandum of obligation to join the SCO was signed by India and Pakistan at the Tashkent Summit in June, 2016. Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev officially welcomed India and Pakistan as the seventh and eighth members of the SCO on June 9, 2017 during the Astana summit.

India had to sign 38 agreements in the two-year-long accession process to become a full member of the China-lead SCO. With the inclusion of India and Pakistan, the eight-member bloc will now represent the voice of three billion people – half the world's population and three-fifths of the Eurasian continent. Surely, the entry of India and Pakistan will enhance the SCO's influence in dealing with terrorist pressures and promoting trade and investment in the region, particularly at a time when the Islamic State terrorists are trying to penetrate into the SCO space.

Certainly, India's SCO membership will take cooperation among member states to new heights. In his address at the annual Summit of the SCO in Astana on June 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India's entry into the SCO family as a full member will give a new momentum to the grouping in dealing with terrorism and other pressing challenges facing the region. Calling terrorism a "major threat to humanity," Modi said that there was a need for coordinated efforts to defeat terrorism and radicalization. The Prime Minister also spoke on the need for enhancing connectivity in the region and said it was the key for boosting trade and investment with the SCO member countries. He also thanked the founding members of the SCO for granting membership. to India.  

India has enjoyed long-standing relations with Central Asia which is rich in natural resources energy and gas. Plainly speaking, SCO membership has given India a chance to revive its relations with Central Asian countries.  India wants to take advantage of energy supplies of the Eurasian landmass through transit routes between Russia and China. For India, therefore, a permanent membership in the SCO is primarily its gateway to better economic access to Central Asia.

The SCO is a forum where bilateral issues can be resolved. It is anticipated that the entry of India and Pakistan into the SCO may help boost anti-terrorism cooperation between the two countries and provide a platform to resolve their differences. India and Pakistan should take advantage of this forum to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue in accordance with the SCO Charter and the Treaty on Long-term Good-neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, through upholding the "Shanghai Spirit" and add fresh impetus to the development of the SCO. As per the framework of the SCO, a third party could step in to prevent an outbreak of conflict between the two countries. Therefore, China and Russia, being the major members of this organization, can play a vital role to resolve conflicts between India and Pakistan.

It is without a doubt that India's acquiring full membership of the SCO is a historical step that will elevate India's political and economic profile within the grouping. As an SCO member, India now will be able to play a major role in addressing the threat of terrorism in the region. India will now have to deepen its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) based in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. Participation in RATS may bring some new levels of intelligence sharing, as well as help the others develop counter-terrorism strategies based on India's long experience of it.

Joining the SCO will help bring India closer to China, bilaterally and in its dealings with Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the SCO summit. The Modi-Xi meeting was seen as an effort to repair Indo-Chinese ties that have been hit by growing differences between the two countries over a host of issues including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and NSG.

It was the first meeting between the two leaders after India boycotted China's high-profile Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing last month in which 29 world leaders took part. India abstained from the summit to highlight its concerns over the landmark US$ 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is a part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and passes through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

During the meeting, Modi said India and China should tap their potential in cooperation, strengthen communication and coordination in international affairs, respect each other's core concerns and appropriately handle their disputes. Chinese President Xi said the two countries should make joint efforts to promote regional connectivity and shared development, align their development initiatives, advance the building of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor with a view to substantial progress at an early date, and boost cooperation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

PM Modi acknowledged in a tweet that his discussions with President Xi were about "how to improve and further ties." He thanked President Xi for China's staunch support which made possible India's accession to the SCO. The meeting sends out a strong signal that both nations are willing to look at the bigger picture and hedge the ties on increasing trade and people-to-people links while simultaneously trying to keep all channels of communication open.

However, India must keep in mind that the SCO is not a place for leadership competition and is not another SAARC. An editorial in the Global Times said on June 8,2017, "The inclusion of India and Pakistan will add to the political dimension of the SCO, whose members' value systems, characteristics of national development, and core concerns will be more diversified." Welcoming India and Pakistan as the SCO's full members, President Xi called on the SCO to "carry forward the fine tradition of solidarity and coordination" while addressing the annual gathering of the SCO heads of state.

It is hoped that the admission of India and Pakistan into the SCO's fold will contribute to security, stability, common development and common prosperity in the region, leaving aside their bilateral differences for the greater good. In the words of Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, "India and Pakistan strictly follow the charter of the SCO and the idea of good neighborliness to uphold the SCO spirit, improve relations and inject new impetus into the development of the SCO."

Rabi Sankar Bosu is the Secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club in West Bengal, India.