Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was established in the year 2001 by the Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is a multi-lateral, regional grouping with the primary focus on security and economic prosperity in the region.
It can be touted as the world’s largest regional organisation in terms of territorial expanse and population, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, and 40% of the world population. Post its formation, it laid down its official charter in 2002.
The major purpose of the SCO as being to strengthen mutual trust, good- neighbourliness and friendship among the member states; to develop effective cooperation in political affairs, economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transport, infrastructure, environment; and to maintain peace and harmony in the region along with security and stability.
It lays down that every member should respect each other’s independence and territorial sovereignty and integrity; not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs and not use force against each other; equality should be maintained amongst the member-states. Issues in dispute should be settled through consultations. Although SCO membership is open only to regional states, its charter provides for cooperation with other states and international bodies.
Bharat joined with an observer status in 2005 and it became a full member in 2017. Although the journey from an observer state to a full member state was not free from hindrances especially by Pakistan and China. Bharat’s association with the SCO has many prospects. Bharat has both continental as well as maritime interests and concerns. It has a 15000km land boundary with several neighbours. Its relations with two of them are adversarial. It has more than 7500kms of coastline which it needs to be safeguarded because of its geo-strategic location and significance.
It also wants to secure its maritime trade through the oceans. Approximately 95 percent of Bharat’s foreign trade by volume and 70 percent by value moves through ocean routes. As Bharat stays engaged with the maritime domain through initiatives like the Indo-Pacific, the QUAD, Indian Ocean Rim Association and others, it also needs to have a hands-on approach with countries of the Eurasian landmass.
Bharat’s commitment to SCO can be seen as a geo-political compulsion of not being left out from a strategic grouping. Second reason for Bharat’s commitment to SCO is its aspiring tendency to bring back the historical and civilisational past associated with the Central Asian countries. When we discuss the contemporary geo-political situations, Central Asian Republics cannot be left out. The most significant advantage of SCO for Bharat is to provide opportunities to the Indian Prime Minister, Ministers, and Senior officials to meet the Presidents and counterpart Ministers and officials respectively from the Central Asian Republics (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan) which are members of the SCO.
In addition to the annual summits at heads of state/government level of the SCO member-states, a large number of meetings at the ministerial and senior official levels also take place to expand cooperation in diverse areas. While Bharat enjoys civilisational, cultural and historical ties with all countries of Central Asia, which it refers to as “extended neighbourhood”, its relations with these countries have not realised the desired potential because of the absence of common boundaries with any of them.
In the absence of such contiguity, frequent meetings at the highest level can provide significant opportunities for expanding engagement with these Republics. SCO provides a vital platform for the countries having bilateral tensions. It provides Bharat with a vision to deliberate its counterparts with new policies. When Prime Minister Modi chaired the Council of Heads of State Summit of the SCO on 4th July 2023, in his opening remarks, he said that, in addition to the ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Bharat’s vision for its Presidency of the SCO was guided by SECURE which stood for security, Economic development, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection.
Bharat’s commitment to the SCO is proven with the fact Prime Minister emphasising on upholding the principles and values laid down at the charter, particularly respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Member states. This was an indirect reference to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which violates Bharat’s sovereignty by passing through Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir which are an integral parts of the Bharatiya territory.
The significance of SCO to Bharat has various facets, ranging from capacity building in the Central Asian region, connectivity with the Eurasian region, counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics and energy cooperation. SCO agencies like the SCO Business Council and RATS (Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure) can facilitate Bharat in promoting these interests.
Bharat since 1950s have been engulfed in the problems of terrorism and SCO’s RATS mechanism can help evolve the multipronged approach to deal with these threats. Article 7 of RATS, binds its signatories with the obligation of “actively developing cooperation to counteract terrorism, separatism and extremism; illegal trafficking in drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors and arms; other forms of transnational criminal activity.
It is too early to presume that the adversarial relations between Bharat-Pakistan and Bharat-China have a negative impact on the functioning of the SCO. Being a part of the organisation at least fosters the dialogue and deliberation process among the member-states even though they make veiled critical references to each other in their plenary statements.
It is significant for Bharat to stay engaged with Central Asia and the Eurasian region. Increased association with the SCO at the Member, Observer, and Dialogue Partner levels will promote Bharat’s interests of strengthening cooperation with friendly countries of Central Asia, Russia and others and provide a platform to interact with China on the sidelines of the meetings, if considered useful. It is an important platform to expand Bharat’s interests and partnership with Central Asia and the Eurasian region.
– Monalisa Deka
References:
Sajjanhar, A. (2022), “India and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation”, Indian Foreign Affairs Journal, 17 (3): 190-204
Kundu, Nivedita. (2009), “Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: Significance for India”, Indian Foreign Affairs Journal, 4(3): 91-101
Upadhyay, Bandana. (2016), “India’s SCO Membership: Prospects & Constraints”, Indian Council of World Affairs, 1-10
Charter of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, 7th June 2002.
