19
Jun
Fourteen years have passed since the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on June 15, 2001. The member states including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have remained unchanged throughout that time, a rare thing in international organizations.
By contrast after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, NATO – an organization that should have been disbanded – was not just preserved but actually expanded from 16 member states at the end of the Cold War to 28 today. The expansion even continues eastwards.
At this year’s summit in Ufa, Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will finally open its doors to expansion. At the summit for heads of state in July, the SCO will officially receive India and Pakistan as new members. All member states have basically reached a consensus that India and Pakistan will be the first. Will SCO expansion and the addition of India and Pakistan bring pros and cons to the initiative for China? And will there be any challenges and problems?
Firstly we need to understand that the addition of India and Pakistan is achieved in the context of continuously improving China-Indiaand China-Pakistanrelations. China and Pakistan have decided to set up an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and open an all-weather friendship and all-round cooperation. With President Xi Jinping’s 2014 visit to India and President Modi’s 2015 visit to China, the two countries are entering a new era of strengthening cooperation and common development: The dragon and the elephant are dancing once again and attracting world attention. Adding India and Pakistan to the SCO will further consolidate and develop relationships between China and these two countries.
1. It will be conducive to implementation of the Belt and Road initiative. India and Pakistan are important participants in both the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. Two economic corridors – China-Pakistan and Bangladesh-China-India-Burma – are closely associated with promotion of the Belt and Road construction, which needs further cooperation to achieve greater progress. As member states, India and Pakistan have embarked on deepening pragmatic cooperation in politics, economics, trade, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transportation and environmental protection. This will boost Belt and Road construction.
2. It helps deepen cooperation against terrorism. SCO is based on common strategic needs. SCO was set up to contain what Chinese state media calls the “three evil forces”: terrorism, ethnic separatism and religious extremism. Faced with the current complex international and regional situation, the addition of India and Pakistan strengthens SCO security cooperation and combats infiltration and the threat of extreme terrorism in the region.
3. It helps resolve border disputes. One of the purposes of SCO is to coordinate efforts to maintain and guarantee regional peace, security and stability. The China-India border issue is still not resolved and there will sometimes be friction. Indian participation creates a new multilateral platform for face-to-face China-India communication. It helps with dialogue and cooperation on boundary differences and disputes within the SCO framework. The two countries will work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
4. It helps reduce geopolitical pressure. The situation around China is not optimistic: the issues of the Korean Peninsula, the Diaoyu Islands and the South China Sea are all posingtough challenges to regional stability. The US and Japan have created enormous geopolitical pressure in the East China Sea. China therefore has a great need for stability. The addition of India and Pakistan into SCO effectively opens up China’s strategic space and enables China to try to address the issues.
5. It helps to establish a democratic, just and rational new international political and economic order. The SCO is the most influential international organization outside the sphere of influence of the US and its allies. SCO has successfully withstood the test of time and become an internationally influential multilateral cooperation platform. India and Pakistan will greatly enhance the functionality and influence of the organization. This expansion promotes the democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order proposed by China. The addition of India and Pakistan to SCO will also affect China mainly in terms of reaching a consensus and possible vetoing. When China-India and China-Pakistan border issues intensify, they might affect SCO cooperation. Thus SCO expansion must be observed from a sober, rational perspective.
Growing influence means further SCO expansion is only a matter of time. Iran and Mongolia are expected to become full members. Belarus looks forward to being upgraded from an observer to a current dialogue partner. Syria, Egypt, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and 12 other countries also hope to become SCO dialogue partners.
As the old Chinese saying goes, “How happy we are to meet friends from afar.” China should rationally face the situation and open its arms to welcome new members to the big family with a tolerant and pragmatic attitude. Based on the principles of mutual trust and benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse cultures and seeking common development, member countries must have mutual respect, understanding and support while seeking common security, development and prosperity so that they contribute to building a community of interests and common destiny.
Source: http://english.cntv.cn/2015/06/17/ARTI1434507479426197.shtml