Admitting new members would strengthen SCO’s long-term position

By Wang Haiyun Source:Global Times Published: 2014-9-16 20:38:01

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT



The annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit concluded in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on September 12. On the headline-grabbing agenda, one of the priorities is to take in new members. The organization has been considering this issue for years, and in this summit, the core procedures have been finalized, but it will take a while before the new admission framework comes into effect.

Speculations have been raised about which nations could become the first to receive a green card. So far, the most likely candidates are India and Pakistan. Both countries have shown great interest in joining the SCO. In fact, Pakistan filed a written application long ago. The admission process has not been launched mainly because the SCO has not issued any related policies until now.

Chinese scholars who specialize in SCO research have different opinions about whether India should be allowed in.

Some are concerned about the simmering tensions between Pakistan and India, as most regional organizations will try to avoid taking in countries which still engage in military confrontations.

Besides, India has a close relationship with the US, and the unity and effectiveness of the SCO will likely be impacted. India has divergence with China over many issues, and it will impair China's influence in this organization if India is taken in.

In the eyes of those who support the admission of India, most of these concerns are just technical and operational problems. They believe that the SCO will gain multiple strategic benefits if the organization can look at the big picture and take in both India and Pakistan.

For instance, India will be more aware that it is an emerging country and it will play significant roles in several new international frameworks such as the China-Russia-India cooperation mechanism and the BRICS.

It will also serve as an important force in establishing a new coalition of emerging countries based on the SCO framework. Their joint efforts will improve the unbalanced global pattern.

Finding the right place in the SCO, India will probably keep a distance from the US. Washington's containment policy will likely falter in this case.

India and Pakistan's entry into the SCO will help the organization break the bottleneck of the previous framework in which the SCO members are just China and former Soviet states.

This will fundamentally overcome the potential competition between the SCO and the Eurasian Union. China and Russia will develop much deeper cooperation.

The strategic distrust between China and India will also be reduced if India is allowed in. The SCO rules will serve as restraints on India in terms of the border disputes and the Dalai Lama issue.

The tensions between India and Pakistan will probably be lessened, and together with other SCO members, they can face the potential risky scenarios after NATO withdraws troops from Afghanistan.

Taking India and Pakistan into the SCO will be a major step to promote the Silk Road economic belt and benefit the establishment of Southeast China's energy corridor.

According to the SCO rules, this organization is open to new members, and most members have expressed their support that India and Pakistan should be allowed to join the organization.

China should pay more attention to how to optimize the process of enlargement, how to make new members add catalysts to the development of the SCO, and how to safeguard the interests of China and other members, rather than the simple question of whether India and Pakistan should be taken in.

As for Iran, it will be difficult for the country to be one of the first countries accepted by the SCO, although Iran was the first to file an application.

This is mainly because Iran is still under UN sanctions, and the SCO has ruled out the possibility that countries under sanctions can be accepted into the organization. Iran should make convincing promises and solid progress in nuclear issues, and the SCO, especially China and Russia, could help Iran get rid of the nuclear dilemma. Then Iran will play a constructive role within the SCO.

The author is a senior consultant at the Center of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn



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