<p>The meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states, in Tianjin, was a precursor to the SCO leaders’ summit scheduled on August 31 and September 1. While the focus of the deliberations centred on development, <br>improved institutional building, and enhanced physical and institutional connectivity, the meeting also discussed <br>in detail ways to strengthen security cooperation among the members.</p>.<p>The question of how best the member states could carry forward the ‘Shanghai Spirit’, which remains the soul of the SCO, steered a major part of the debates. The ‘Shanghai Spirit’ is about mutual trust and mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations, and the pursuit of common development. Externally, SCO <br>upholds non-alignment and the “principle of openness”. The stated values and objectives notwithstanding, the inherent contradictions among the SCO member states present a serious challenge in a world increasingly marked by turbulence.</p>.<p>The ‘Shanghai Spirit’ is efficient in theory, but its practical application appears to be a part of the challenge because of the diverse nature of the SCO member states – China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran – both at the political and economic levels. The organisation also has three observer states: Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia.</p>.<p>Fostering good neighbourliness and friendship featured prominently in the discussions. This largely finds resonance with the ‘Shanghai Spirit’. It must be highlighted here that an important source of SCO’s enduring vitality, perhaps, lies in understanding the camaraderie among the people of its member states. All member states advocated for the need to leverage the existing mechanisms, platforms, and non-governmental channels to further this connection in the foreseeable future.</p>.<p>The member states reaffirmed the need to enhance the grouping’s ability to respond to emerging security threats and challenges, including combating the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, transnational organised crime and drug trafficking, and safeguarding information security. But it needs to be emphasised that the meeting saw India urging SCO to remain true to its founding objectives and adopt an “uncompromising” position on the issue of terror, in a clear pointer to the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan, a member state, is party to a consensus on addressing the security threats to countries in the grouping. The interplay of this stated commitment with its continuing engagement with the terror infrastructure will be significant. This will be an area of key interest for India.</p>.<p><strong>Greater responsibilities</strong></p>.<p>The discussions on creating development opportunities through partnerships are important. All parties agreed that SCO should seek greater synergy of the member states’ development strategies, enhance the resilience of industrial and supply chains, and foster new growth drivers in economy, trade, investment, energy, connectivity, scientific and technological innovation, green industries, and digital economy. The push towards the establishment of an SCO development bank carries a message – the move shows how the existing global financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, have largely failed in responding to the needs of SCO member states.</p>.China to hold SCO summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1: Wang Yi.<p>China has committed to creating an amicable and conducive environment and following the principles of inclusiveness, and to working with other countries in the grouping to pursue shared interests. Its intent and commitment to match rhetoric with action are open to debate.</p>.<p>India’s role in SCO has been unfolding since it became a full member in 2017. In the Council meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined India’s role in the grouping by noting its initiatives in domains such as startups and digital public infrastructure. India has also raised concerns, such as the lack of assured transit in the SCO space.</p>.<p>The meeting also hosted a discussion on the urgency to uphold fairness and justice, with the member states committing to safeguard the UN-centred international system and work towards a more equitable global governance system. China will have to take the lead in this regard because it has traditionally distanced itself from the international legal principle and is led by an illiberal international order. It was pointed out that the world we live in is marked by power politics and bullying, and beset by frequent international and regional conflicts. There is no denying the fact that in the emerging geopolitical dynamics, the rights of countries to survival and development are under stress. The SCO should meet the expectations of the international community and take more proactive actions to promote lasting peace in West Asia and also help Afghanistan in achieving peace and stability.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a professor at the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi)</em></p>
<p>The meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states, in Tianjin, was a precursor to the SCO leaders’ summit scheduled on August 31 and September 1. While the focus of the deliberations centred on development, <br>improved institutional building, and enhanced physical and institutional connectivity, the meeting also discussed <br>in detail ways to strengthen security cooperation among the members.</p>.<p>The question of how best the member states could carry forward the ‘Shanghai Spirit’, which remains the soul of the SCO, steered a major part of the debates. The ‘Shanghai Spirit’ is about mutual trust and mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations, and the pursuit of common development. Externally, SCO <br>upholds non-alignment and the “principle of openness”. The stated values and objectives notwithstanding, the inherent contradictions among the SCO member states present a serious challenge in a world increasingly marked by turbulence.</p>.<p>The ‘Shanghai Spirit’ is efficient in theory, but its practical application appears to be a part of the challenge because of the diverse nature of the SCO member states – China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran – both at the political and economic levels. The organisation also has three observer states: Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia.</p>.<p>Fostering good neighbourliness and friendship featured prominently in the discussions. This largely finds resonance with the ‘Shanghai Spirit’. It must be highlighted here that an important source of SCO’s enduring vitality, perhaps, lies in understanding the camaraderie among the people of its member states. All member states advocated for the need to leverage the existing mechanisms, platforms, and non-governmental channels to further this connection in the foreseeable future.</p>.<p>The member states reaffirmed the need to enhance the grouping’s ability to respond to emerging security threats and challenges, including combating the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, transnational organised crime and drug trafficking, and safeguarding information security. But it needs to be emphasised that the meeting saw India urging SCO to remain true to its founding objectives and adopt an “uncompromising” position on the issue of terror, in a clear pointer to the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan, a member state, is party to a consensus on addressing the security threats to countries in the grouping. The interplay of this stated commitment with its continuing engagement with the terror infrastructure will be significant. This will be an area of key interest for India.</p>.<p><strong>Greater responsibilities</strong></p>.<p>The discussions on creating development opportunities through partnerships are important. All parties agreed that SCO should seek greater synergy of the member states’ development strategies, enhance the resilience of industrial and supply chains, and foster new growth drivers in economy, trade, investment, energy, connectivity, scientific and technological innovation, green industries, and digital economy. The push towards the establishment of an SCO development bank carries a message – the move shows how the existing global financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, have largely failed in responding to the needs of SCO member states.</p>.China to hold SCO summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1: Wang Yi.<p>China has committed to creating an amicable and conducive environment and following the principles of inclusiveness, and to working with other countries in the grouping to pursue shared interests. Its intent and commitment to match rhetoric with action are open to debate.</p>.<p>India’s role in SCO has been unfolding since it became a full member in 2017. In the Council meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined India’s role in the grouping by noting its initiatives in domains such as startups and digital public infrastructure. India has also raised concerns, such as the lack of assured transit in the SCO space.</p>.<p>The meeting also hosted a discussion on the urgency to uphold fairness and justice, with the member states committing to safeguard the UN-centred international system and work towards a more equitable global governance system. China will have to take the lead in this regard because it has traditionally distanced itself from the international legal principle and is led by an illiberal international order. It was pointed out that the world we live in is marked by power politics and bullying, and beset by frequent international and regional conflicts. There is no denying the fact that in the emerging geopolitical dynamics, the rights of countries to survival and development are under stress. The SCO should meet the expectations of the international community and take more proactive actions to promote lasting peace in West Asia and also help Afghanistan in achieving peace and stability.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a professor at the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi)</em></p>