SCO and Pakistan’s Aspirations

During the SCO’s June 2002 summit, at Saint Petersburg, Russia, the heads of member states signed the SCO Charter, which expatiated its purposes, principles, structure and form of operation, and established it officially from the viewpoint of international law.

Its six full members account for 60 per cent of the land mass of Eurasian region and their population is a quarter of the world. With observer states included, its affiliates account for half of humanity. Currently, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have been accorded “Observer” status, while Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey are the dialogue partners of SCO. India, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey are aspirants to full membership of SCO. Both China and Russia have already endorsed the full membership for India and Pakistan. In June 2010, the SCO approved the procedure of admitting new members, though they are yet to be admitted.

It seems that SCO, as a regional body, is likely to be a counterbalance to Nato and its activities, which include cooperation on economic, cultural, security, military, intelligence-sharing and counterterrorism. The US too was desirous of joining SCO as an ‘Observer’. But wary of its ambitions as the sole global power, its request was turned down.

The next SCO summit is scheduled to be held on September 13, 2013, at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The Pakistani delegation is likely to be led by former Senator Sartaj Aziz who is currently serving as Advisor to the Prime Minister for National Security and Foreign Affairs.

Pakistan is desirous of attaining full membership expeditiously, but it is also cognisant of the fact that presently the permanent members of SCO want to maintain a low-key, rather than announce their intention of providing counterfoil to Nato. The membership application of Turkey, which is already an ally/member of Nato, and Iran raise questions and are subject to debate. Keeping this in view, Pakistan realises that offering full membership to one country and denying to others will create a dichotomy so it is willing to bide time till an opportune moment arrives.

Till then, it would be looking forward to be actively involved in the activities of SCO. During the Bonn Conference, held on December 5, 2011, the Chinese Foreign Minister in his address indicated that regional bodies like SCO should have a role in the post-2014 Afghanistan, rather than the Western nations.

Islamabad endorses this opinion and being a stakeholder in Afghan peace, would welcome SCO’s participation in post-2014 Afghanistan.

Pakistan is conscious of Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski’s theory that ‘control of the Eurasian land mass is the key to global domination and control of Central Asia is the key to control of the Eurasian land mass.’ Since SCO has also apparently paid heed to the Brzezinski theory, Pakistan would seek to cast its lot with the organisation.

 Pakistan’s aims of curbing extremism and enhancing border security also coincide with SCO’s charter of activities and since the state is suffering from both these problems, it would endeavour to gain from the experiences of SCO members to address the issue.

Trade and economic cooperation are also areas of interest for Pakistan, since Central Asia has a strong development and business potential based on ‘the availability of energy, natural resource and work force.’ Joint Military Exercises (JMEs) have been held in the past between SCO members; Pakistan would be keen to take part in future counterterrorism exercises as well as intelligence-sharing cooperation.

Additionally, the September summit has afforded Sino-Pakistan delegations an opportunity to hold in-depth talks on its sidelines. Central Asia, and peace and stability in Afghanistan, hold key to the fruition of Sino-Pak agreements on the establishment of an economic corridor, development of Gwadar Port and TAPI.

However, Balochistan will remain embroiled in conflict until there is tranquillity in Afghanistan.

Gwadar Port as well as the bulk of the economic corridor lies in strife-torn Balochistan, while TAPI would run through Afghanistan. So the port’s optimum utilisation will depend on Central Asia and Afghanistan making full use of it. Sino-Pak talks are likely to focus on the fast track execution of the economic corridor project as well as post-2014 Afghanistan, and bringing an end to the extremist attacks and their possible trickle-down effect on China’s Xingjian province.

Regional organisations like SCO are perhaps the best forums to strengthen regional security and preserving world peace. For Pakistan, the writing on the wall is to seek regional cooperation, rather than look only towards the Occident.

Courtesy: Opinion Maker