Modi Makes All the Right Moves at the SCO Summit

 America’s retreat from Afghanistan has left a great void in the region in terms of security. China and Russia, quick to castigate America for the hasty withdrawal always despised America’s military presence. Both the countries which have drawn closer to each other might find Afghanistan as another binding glue to come together.

Incidentally, the 21^st edition of the SCO Leaders summit conducted in hybrid format is thus believed to bring not only China and Russia but other regional countries together. Launched as Shanghai Five in 1997 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, it slowly transformed into Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) by July 2001 with the joining of Uzbekistan.

The basis for formation of SCO has been fostering multilateral cooperation between neighbouring countries for strengthening peace, security and stability of the region. Central Asia is the core of SCO and believes that strengthening the stability of the region largely depends on the situation in Afghanistan.

Evolving as a multilateral organization, SCO built a solid legal framework and mechanism of interactions comprising two standing bodies- the Secretariat at Beijing and Regional Anti-terrorism Structure (RATS) at Tashkent that regularly conducts counter terrorism exercises with its members.

The central focus of the 21^st edition of the SCO expectedly has been Afghanistan. SCO steered by China is now the confronting the insurmountable task of managing the fallout of Afghanistan. The collapse of the democratic government in Afghanistan posed a formidable challenge for all the countries neighbouring it.

A month ago, when Afghanistan was staring at the possibility of an imminent Taliban takeover, SCO foreign ministers along with its Contact group of Afghanistan deliberated on the risks posed by a Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Afghan Taliban has close ties with all the terrorist and insurgent groups in Central Asia, China, Russia and South Asia. With the resurgence of Taliban, the dire need of containing the scourge of terrorism from spreading its deadly fangs into the extended neighbourhood has become an impending necessity.

Though the Taliban has assured countries to not allow its territory for any terror activities, a surge in violence and bomb explosions has heightened their collective anxiety. Threat to regional peace and security loomed large.

Inexorably, terrorism has emerged as a major issue. The stability of Afghanistan is one of the foundational aspects of SCO that came into existence just weeks before 9/11. In its two decades of its existence, pertinent to its double standards, China has failed to foster regionalism. Instead, it nurtured SCO into a China Club for clout building exercise. Russia which refuses to play second fiddle to China backed India for full-fledged membership at a time when Beijing wanted to make Pakistan a party to SCO. Eventually in 2017, both India and Pakistan who were earlier the observers to SCO became official members of SCO.

Making India’s stance clear right from the inception, New Delhi highlighted its concerns about terrorism and sought SCO’s cooperation to fight the same. Addressing the leaders of SCO on September 17^th, Prime Minister Modi has rightly reminded them of the three evils afflicting the region- terrorism, extremism and separatism.

 Modi has eloquently summarized India’s concerns and also the challenges at hand for the members to deliberate. He lamented about non-inclusive Afghanistan regime at the helm of affairs and urged nations to wait for a collective global decision to recognize such a system. Beijing’s opportunistic endorsement of a terrorist government is not lost on India. Seizing this opportunity, Modi warned such self-centered move is bound to encourage other terrorist groups to come to power through violence.

Being victims of terrorism, he urged all countries to develop a template for global anti-terror cooperation and a code of conduct to prevent cross-border terrorism and terror financing ¹. He warned countries of the risk of radicalization and said, “If we look at history, the region of central Asia has been bastion of moderate and progressive cultures and values…… On the basis of this historical heritage of Central Asia, SCO should develop a common template to fight radicalism and extremism”².

Outrightly deriding the ideology indoctrinated by our Western neighbour, Modi suggested a remedial measure for the proliferating extremism and radicalism in the sub-continent.

Modi sought cooperation of member countries for the proposal developed by India as the chair of the SCO-RATS for controlling human trafficking, illegal flow of drugs and illegal weapons.

Raising concerns over the free flow of trade and supplies which can exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, Modi made a pitch for the use of Chabahar port to ensure uninterrupted supplies to the land-locked country.

Pledging over $3 billion projects for Afghan reconstruction India is its most important non-western developmental partner. In 2016, India signed a trilateral transit agreement with Afghanistan and Iran for the use of Chabahar port as an alternative access route to Afghanistan. To circumvent the transit restrictions posed by Pakistan, India invested $500 million in Chabahar.  Strategically located, the Chabahar port is India’s gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs). Chabahar can lead up to the International North South Corridor running from Russia and also connects to European nations.

Connectivity is a major challenge for the land-locked CARs and Chabahar rightly fit the bit in catering to the trading aspirations of CARs in providing access to the vast markets of India. One of the main pillars of cooperation under SCO is connectivity. China’s $400 billion deal with Iran has cast shadow on Chabahar over reports of Iran removing India from Chabahar-Zahedan railway project due to scarcity of funds. By propping up Chabahar for regional connectivity, India made a right move.

Stating that, “connectivity was not one-way street; it needed to be participatory, transparent and consultative exercise, which the territorial integrity of partner nations” ³, Modi batted for the use of Chabahar project and also raised concerns about China’s coercion and predatory tactics. This comes at a time, when other SCO members have endorsed BRI, which has violated the territorial sovereignty of India. India has repeatedly raised objections to BRI’s most prized asset, CPEC which passes through Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK, which are legitimate territories of India.

The focus of the SCO summit has been “preserving and strengthening the stability of the region through early settlement of Afghanistan issue”. In his address, Modi discussed all issues pertinent to reconstruction and stabilization of Afghanistan. Chabahar which is the vital cog in the connectivity of Afghanistan can plausibility avert a crisis if SCO members chose to cooperate.  

India has been opposing China’s BRI tooth and nail. By registering an indirect protest against the BRI, propping up Chabahar and blatantly calling the bluff of Pakistan for its terror agenda, India has made all the right noises at the so called Chinese club. Refused to be silenced by the bully despite the ongoing standoff, by offering solutions, India has indirectly rebuked the China-Pakistan nexus that is ushering region into instability and eventual chaos by legitimizing Taliban regime.

America’s reluctance to play a global role and especially its hasty retreat gave China an opportunity to assert its control through SCO. Inducting Iran as the new member this year, China is eyeing to expand its influence to the regions that US is vacating. Beijing invited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt as Dialogue Partners.

As has been the case, the hallowed mantra of regional cooperation through SCO is a sham. Russia and China are at odds to consolidate their control over the CARs. While Russia has militarily cobbled up support of CARs (three SCO members Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) through CSTO (Central Security Treaty Organisation), China is wielding control over them through its investments. For the overt friendly overtures, Russia and China don’t share common interests. Even the SCO members have their own internal disputes. India and Pakistan are archenemies. Afghanistan, Mongolia and Turkey are currently observer states.

Averse to toning down its ambitions, China is attempting to project SCO as a counter to the West. The Foreign Ministers meet of Pakistan Russia Iran and China (PRIC), an emerging anti-American axis along the sidelines of SCO is Beijing’s attempt to establish a regional order akin to the Quad.

The concept of the regionalism is now further diluted with the addition of Iran. The choice of the dialogue partners keeps changing with China’s economic interests. So, as of now SCO doesn’t qualify to be a cogent body. However, in the absence of any regional mechanism that could bring all countries together, SCO has now expanded its agenda and attempting to address some of the issues. After the collapse of SAARC, a regional platform to engage with Pakistan, SCO is serving as a cogent platform for India to object to Islamabad officially.

The most striking feature of SCO attracting traction for its darning hypocrisy is the annual counter terrorism exercises featuring a strong contingent from Pakistan.

Dushanbe Declaration asserted that priority will be given to the implementation of the 2022-24 programme of cooperation of SCO Member states in countering terrorism, separatism and extremism. To tackle the menace of drug trafficking, one of the off shoots of the terror perpetrators, SCO is mulling a center against International Organised Crime in Kyrgyzstan and a vital SCO Information Security Centre at Kazakhstan⁴. It underscored the criticality of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and supported “the emergence of an Afghanistan as an independent, neutral, united, democratic and peaceful state, free of terrorism, war and drugs”.

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