Regional and International Role of SCO

(Amna Malik, Islamabad)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as a major regional organisation includes China, Russia and four Central Asian States of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as its members and most important regional states as its observers and dialogue partners. Pakistan, Iran, India, Mongolia and Afghanistan are SCO observer states and Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey are its dialogue partners. Among the countries associated with the SCO there is great diversity in terms of size, economic strength and natural resources. It brings together the energy rich Central Asian States, the rising economic giants like China, major regional powers like Russia and Pakistan, India and Iran who can provide access for these countries to world markets and warm waters. SCO also provides a useful forum for strategic coordination between the two major regional players namely Russia and China.

The principles of SCO are very attractive, specially for newly independent states and developing countries of the region who jealously guard their independence and sovereignty. The SCO‘s charter defines the main purposes of the organisation as "strengthening mutual trust, good neighborliness and friendship among member states; developing effective co-operation in political affairs, economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transport and environmental protection; and working together to maintain regional peace, security and stability". The charter lists basic principles such as the sovereign equality of states and the rejection of hegemony and coercion in international affairs.

SCO is building a region that is harmonious and in keeping with the Shanghai Spirit that promotes mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development. The focus of the organisation is on issues directly affecting these states. The foremost is economic development. The SCO also focuses on security challenges termed as the "three evils": terrorism, separatism and religious extremism. Under the umbrella of SCO, the Tashkent-based Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) has been established for this purpose.

Another major area has been regional economic and cultural cooperation speciallyin energy, transportation and cooperation in tourism, environment protection and social security. SCO‘s potential role in linking energy surplus Central Asia with energy deficient South Asia can be a major challenge.

SCO as an institution is evolving. Since the Tashkent Summit of 2009 where SCO adopted its rules for acceptance of new members, the organisation has come a long way in developing its institutional structure. The members have confirmed the need for greater involvement of the SCO observer states and dialogue partners in practical cooperation within the framework of the Organisation.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, it has already declared its interest in full membership. Pakistan was in fact the first observer state to formally apply for SCO membership. This coincides with our major foreign policy objectives. Pakistan's aims of curbing extremism and enhancing border security coincide with SCO‘s charter of activities and since Pakistan is suffering from both these problems, it would endeavour to gain from the experiences of SCO members to address the issue. Pakistan is keen to participate in future counter-terrorism exercises as well as intelligence sharing cooperation.

Sino-Pak agreements on the establishment of the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, development of Gwadar Port and Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (TAPI) Gas pipeline are outstanding examples of regional cooperation in which Pakistan is actively participating. We are committed to continue our engagement with SCO as an institution and bilaterally with SCO member states. Pakistan's full membership will enable it to actively participate in the group's activities in the region. The policies and programmes of the SCO are in consonance with Pakistan's long-term objectives. SCO provides a useful forum to Pakistan to promote peace and stability in the region, contain and eradicate the menace of terrorism from the region and work with members to build stronger and more productive relationship in the future.

Pakistan deserves full membership of SCO since it has great potential to help bring peace in Afghanistan, serve as a trade and energy corridor for the SCO region and also fight terrorism and drug trafficking for long term stability of the region. This will further strengthen the capacity of the SCO to handle the issues of extremism, separatism and terrorism and maintain stability in Afghanistan and Central Asia.

According to scholars it is being stated that in the post-2014 environment, some fighting forces would continue to operate in Afghanistan for anti-terrorism and geopolitical concerns. Thus, in this scenario, regional countries would play a bigger role in the future of Afghanistan. Among the regional countries, the triangular relationship among India, Pakistan and Afghanistan would play a key role in the final resolution of Afghanistan problem. In this backdrop, the SCO could be promising platform.

Strengthening cooperation in trade, commerce, technology, energy and agriculture are the areas that SCO members and observer states should keep in focus as they would help in maintaining stability in the region. The stability of South Asia, especially Afghanistan, is necessary for China since it does not want to see chaos in Afghanistan and related spillover effect on the stability of Pakistan. Since China is willing to contribute in international as well as regional effort to ensure stability in Afghanistan, Pakistan whould also work in close coordination with China for bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Financing joint projects in Afghanistan, eliminating SCO trade barriers with that country and reviving traditional silk route could be the best options for achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan. There are ample opportunities for SCO members and observers in Afghanistan for investment not only in mining but in all other domains. China‘s rail projects might one day integrate Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan which will greatly boost regional trade and economic relations.

In this back drop a comprehensive approach to development and cooperation calls for a paradigm shift in the approach to international relations, i.e. from the pursuit of national interest at the cost of others to relationships based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual benefit. SCO claims to be motivated by this approach to the international order and is therefore poised to play a leading role in future international relations. In view of regional needs and potentials, SCO needs to move simultaneously on many fronts to realize the objectives of long-term, sustainable and multidimensional cooperation. The goal of optimal all-round regional cooperation can only be realized if both member and observer states have enhanced opportunities to play active roles. This demands an expansion, particularly in membership, of the organization. To start with, SCO should seriously consider making observer states its permanent members.

Amna Malik
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