What kind of a grouping is the SCO?. How does membership of the SCO help India?. Do you think SCO's utility in ideological terms as a counterpoise against Western domination?.
Nature
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the then security and economic architecture in the Eurasian region dissolved and new structures had to come up. The original Shanghai Five were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The SCO was formed in 2001, with Uzbekistan included. It expanded in 2017 to include India and Pakistan.
Since its formation, the SCO has focused on regional non-traditional security, with counter-terrorism as a priority: The fight against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism has become its mantra. Today, areas of cooperation include themes such as economics and culture.
India
For India, two important objectives are counter-terrorism and connectivity. These sit well with the SCO’s main objective of working cooperatively against the “three evils”. India wants access to intelligence and information from SCO’s counter-terrorism body, the Tashkent-based Regional Anti Terror Structure (RATS). A stable Afghanistan too is in India’s interest, and RATS provides access to non-Pakistan-centred counter-terrorism information there.
Connectivity is important for India’s Connect Central Asia policy. Energy cooperation dominates its interest – and it’s in China’s neighbourhood. But India will also have to deal with an assertive China, which is pushing its Belt and Road Initiative.
SCO membership also bolsters India’s status as a major pan-Asian player, which is boxed in the South Asian paradigm.
Thus, India is also a part of the ‘Quadrilateral’ grouping with the U.S., Japan and Australia. Its association with the grouping of a rather different nature is part of its foreign policy that emphasizes on principles of “strategic autonomy and multilateralism”.
Countering west
Majority of members of SCO are former Soviet central Asian countries and those that have not so good relationship with the west. China and Russia have been trying hard to use SCO to take an anti-west stand and thereby counter western nations led by USA.
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