IRAN AND SCO - INTERNATIONAL
News: Iran
to join Shanghai alliance with China, Russia next week: Russian Foreign
Minister Lavrov
What's in the news?
● Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Iran will be formally approved as a
member of the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organization with China, Russia and
Central Asian countries.
Key takeaways:
● Iran
has intensified its diplomacy with friends and foes alike in recent months,
seeking to reduce its isolation, improve its economy and project strength.
● SCO
membership was already on the cards and Iran is also hoping to be quickly
accepted into another grouping that excludes Western countries -- the BRICS
group with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO):
● The
SCO, which has its headquarters in China, is a diplomatic organization with
eight members, including India and Pakistan.
● The
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization.
Shanghai Five:
● Before
the creation of SCO in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan
were members of the Shanghai Five.
● Shanghai
Five (1996) emerged from a series of border demarcation and demilitarization
talks which the four former Soviet republics held with China to ensure
stability along the borders.
● It
was after the accession of Uzbekistan to the organization in 2001, the Shanghai
Five was renamed the SCO.
Members:
● Eight countries
enjoy the status of the SCO full members - India, Kazakhstan, China,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
● Observer status
- Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia.
● Partner status
- Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Goals of the SCO:
● Strengthening
mutual confidence and
good-neighborly relations among the member countries.
● Promoting effective
cooperation in politics, trade and economy,
science and technology, culture as well as education, energy, transportation,
tourism, environmental protection and other fields.
● Making
joint efforts to maintain and ensure
peace, security and stability in the region, moving towards the
establishment of a new, democratic, just and rational political and economic
international order.
● SCO
pursues its internal policy based on the principles
of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equal rights, consultations, respect for the
diversity of cultures and aspiration towards common development.
● SCO
pursues its external policy which is conducted in accordance with the
principles of non-alignment, non-targeting of anyone and openness.
Importance of SCO to India:
1. Central Asia relationship:
● SCO
allows India to deepen its strategic reach in Central Asia. India already has
substantial soft power potential
(Buddhist linkages, Bollywood movies etc.)
in Central Asia, which it can exploit through SCO.
● SCO
will help India fulfill its aspiration of playing an active role in its
extended neighborhood as well as checking the ever-growing influence of China
in Eurasia marking its geo-strategic significance.
2. Energy security:
● India’s
membership of SCO can boost energy security by providing access to mineral and
energy resources of the Central Asian countries.
● SCO
countries along with Iran, Azerbaijan & Turkmenistan hold some of the
largest oil (~25%) and natural gas
reserves (~50%) of the world. Kazakhstan is the largest producer of Uranium. Uzbekistan & Kyrgyzstan
are important regional producers of Gold
3. Market for export:
● The
membership, with its emphasis in trade relations, provides an inroad for the
Indian investors to explore the untapped market potential in the Central Asian
region.
● For
example, FICCI hosted the SCO Business
Conclave.
4. Forum for bilateral talks:
● SCO
can provide a platform to discuss bilateral issues with Pakistan and China.
● SCO
provides a platform for strengthening Indo-China relations and resolving their
existing disputes. Russia had played a role in reducing tensions between them
after Galwan Valley clashes.
● Cooperation with Pakistan
- SCO can be seen as an opportunity for India and Pakistan to cooperate on
issues of mutual interest without bringing in their bilateral disputes.
5. Combat terrorism:
● SCO
can play a pivotal role in combating
terrorism, extremism and radicalization through its RATS structure.
● For
its terrorism combat exercise. For example, the Dushanbe declaration, aims towards regional stability.
6. Connectivity to Eurasia:
● India’s
presence in the SCO will help in India’s aim to link itself to the larger
Eurasian region, and to Europe via an INSTC. Thus, boosting connectivity in the
region.
● Strong
engagement with SCO is a great example of India's 'Multiple Engagement' foreign policy.
● Earlier
it was an organization of a particular region but now the addition of Iran has
added importance to this organization.
7. Drug trafficking:
● Most
of the members are located in between two drug trafficking regions, the Golden
Triangle and the Golden Crescent; this forum will be useful to combat drug
trafficking in the region.
8. Economic:
● With
SCO countries contributing almost 42% of the world population and 20% of the
GDP, the proposed FTA with Eurasian Economic Union can provide India with a
wider market base for its IT, telecommunications, banking, finance, and
pharmaceutical industries.
9. People-to-people Connectivity:
● With
cultural connection and shared history, it also has potential to boost the
tourism sector of the country (presently SCO countries constituted only 6% of
India’s total tourists).
Problems of India with SCO members:
1. Dominance of China:
● SCO
is a China dominated organization. Barring India, the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI) has been endorsed by all the members.
2. Controlling Pakistan Sponsored terrorism:
● China
has always condoned Pakistan’s link with terrorist activities in India. SCO may
not prove very effective in controlling Pakistan sponsored terrorism.
● India
blames Pakistan for cross-border terrorism into India, as well as in providing
shelter and safe haven to terror groups that have attacked Afghanistan,
including the Taliban itself.
3. Trust deficit:
● Growing
closeness of Russia and China adds to the difficulties that India faces due to
the China-Pakistan axis in the SCO.
● Other
member countries are also well disposed towards Pakistan. This puts India at
the risk of being isolated in the organization.
4. Lack of connectivity with Central Asia and beyond:
● A
major impediment in connectivity with Central Asia and Eurasia remains the
strategic denial of direct land connectivity between India and Afghanistan and
beyond by Pakistan.
5. Low Economic Footprint:
● India’s
bilateral trade with Central Asia stands at about $2 billion against over $50
billion of China’s.
6. Dominant Players:
● India’s
ability to assert itself would be limited and it may have to play second fiddle
since China and Russia are co-founders of SCO and its dominant powers.
7. Taliban issue:
● India
is not on the same page as most SCO countries when it comes to dealing with the
Taliban, shutting down its embassy, and only engaging Taliban to ensure no
terrorism spillover.
8. Interests of India:
● To
strengthen its position within the organization, India may also have to either
dilute its growing partnership with the West or engage in a delicate balancing
act – as SCO has traditionally adopted an anti-Western posture.
● The
two important countries in the SCO Russia and China are having close relations
with Myanmar where the military took over the administration from the elected
government but QUAD had condemned the coup.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Improving Mutual Trust -
consistent efforts should be made by SCO to improve mutual trust among the
member states. India’s concerns over
violations of ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity’ must be adequately
addressed by China.
2. Revitalize connectivity projects
- The opening of Chabahar port and entry into the Ashgabat agreement should be
utilized for a stronger presence in Eurasia besides a clear focus on
operationalizing INSTC.
3. Maintain an independent voice
- India-Russia diplomatic relations and India’s cultural and historical connect
with the Asian Republics could be leveraged for promoting India’s interests in
the SCO.
4. Constructively engage Pakistan
- Recently Russia, at the request of India, has decided not to enter into an
arms relationship with Pakistan. India should mobilize opinion in the SCO to
ensure its connectivity projects to extended neighbours are unblocked by
Pakistan.
5. Play a constructive role
- India could play a role in de-radicalization of youths in Central Asia.
6.
India should also leverage its soft
power to enhance its spheres of engagements in the field of culture,
cuisine, education etc. This will ensure India does not get isolated in the
organization.
7.
There should be consensus over issues
like terrorism and extremism and RATS-SCO should be tasked to identify and
assess the presence of major terrorist groups throughout the SCO region.
India’s
membership of SCO can help in achieving regional integration, promote
connectivity and stability across borders. However, the ability of SCO to grow
into a successful regional forum depends on its ability to overcome bilateral
differences between its members and their respective geopolitical calculations.
Go back to basics:
Organizational structure of the SCO:
● The
Heads of State Council (HSC) is the
highest decision-making body in the SCO.
● It
meets once every year to make
decisions and give instructions on all important issues regarding SCO activity.
● The Organization has two
permanent bodies - the Secretariat in Beijing (China) and the Regional Anti-Terrorist
Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
● Russian
and Chinese are the official working languages of the SCO.
SCO RATS:
● It
was established to combat terrorism,
separatism and extremism.
● The
Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is the permanent body of the SCO RATS
based in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
● The
Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure operates in accordance with the SCO Charter,
the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism, the
Agreement among the SCO member states on the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure,
as well as documents and decisions adopted in the SCO framework.