India has been trying to play a constructive role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) since becoming a full member in 2017. From September 15 to 16, 2022, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held in Samarkand, the second largest city in Uzbekistan. This meeting is the first offline meeting of the leaders of the SCO member states since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic. It is also the summit with the most leaders and the most fruitful results in the history of the SCO. presidency. In the context of the repeated outbreak of the new crown epidemic and the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, what special significance does this organization have for India?
Many bilateral talks have attracted attention
During the summit, Modi actively held bilateral talks with the participating heads of state. Among them, the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has attracted the attention of Western media. During the talks, Modi said, "The present is not an era of war." What India and Russia need to discuss is how to make progress on the road to peace and find ways to overcome problems such as food shortages and fuel shortages. Putin expressed understanding of India's demands and said he would continue to deepen cooperation between the two countries. Since the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis in February 2022, instead of participating in the all-round sanctions imposed by European and American countries on Russia, India and Russia's trade exchanges have become more intense. As of September 2022, Russia's fertilizer exports to India have increased by about eight times, and Russia even once replaced Saudi Arabia as India's main oil importer.
In addition, Modi also met with Iranian President Rahid. Due to political and historical reasons, it is difficult for India to open a land route to Central Asia via Pakistan. Therefore, it is India's best choice to reach Central Asia via the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) via Iran. Therefore, India has a friendly and open attitude towards Iran's upcoming official membership of the SCO, and hopes to further promote the process of energy cooperation with Iran.
Modi also held a bilateral meeting with Uzbek President Mirziyoyev. As a country bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan is not only the core for India to connect Central Asia and promote energy transportation, but also the key for India to maintain its own geostrategic interests.
From watching to integrating
Looking back, India's attitude towards the SCO has undergone tremendous changes from cautious attention to active participation and active actions. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001. In the early days of its establishment, India believed that the organization was a geopolitical organization led by China and Russia. The purpose was to expand the economic and security interests of China and Russia in Central Asia, and to check and balance against the United States. field plays a substantial role.
However, with the continuous improvement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's operating mechanism, documents such as the Agreement of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Regional Anti-Terrorist Organizations, the Outline of Multilateral Economic and Trade Cooperation of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Declaration of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States have been issued one after another. , the field of cooperation among member states has been continuously expanded, and the form of cooperation has been gradually optimized, and India's willingness to participate in the organization has also been continuously enhanced. In 2004, the SCO member states signed the "Tashkent Declaration of the Heads of State of the SCO Member States", officially launching the "SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Organization". In 2005, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization issued a series of new policies in response to changes in the regional security situation. In July of the same year, the organization issued a statement during the summit held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, asking the United States to clarify the timetable for withdrawing troops from Central Asia. The statement was regarded as the first public challenge to the United States, which aroused strong reactions from the U.S. government and the media, fully demonstrating the international influence of the SCO.
It was also in this year that India obtained the status of an observer state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. But since then, India has maintained a relatively cautious attitude towards the SCO. For example, before becoming a formal member state, the country mostly sent ministerial officials to participate in the Council of Heads of State and Council of Heads of Government organized by the SCO. The only two summits attended by the Indian Prime Minister were held in Russia. In fact, India's smooth entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is also inseparable from Russia's support. Russia and India are not only traditional allies with a solid foundation of cooperation, but Russia is also trying to use India's power to increase its bargaining chips in confrontation with the United States and Western countries.
On September 16, 2022, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Since the US hastily withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, changes in the social and political situation in Afghanistan have posed a huge challenge to the security issues in northern India, which has also increased the urgency for India to control its regional security risks. In addition, in June 2019, the Trump administration of the United States terminated the GSP treatment given to India because India failed to ensure fair and reasonable market access conditions for the United States. The influence that its great powers seek. In this context, India began to face up to its cooperation with the SCO.
Benefits of India's participation in SCO
Participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will help India strengthen cooperation with countries in the Central Asian region, and then promote the construction of its strategic partnership network in the Eurasian region. Although India and Central Asian countries have a long history of economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, and the region is also of great geopolitical significance to India, geographical barriers have always been an obstacle for India to promote trade cooperation with Central Asian countries and obtain energy and other natural resources in the region. biggest obstacle. India’s major infrastructure construction projects aimed at connecting Central Asia have been repeatedly delayed, and its first overseas military base in Tajikistan, the Aini Air Force Base, which is nearing completion, has also been suspended. Various practical difficulties have made India begin to reconsider its own strategic choices .
In addition, participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will also help India further combat terrorism. As one of the countries with the largest number of local terrorist organizations in the world, India has been deeply poisoned by terrorist activities; the increasingly sharp sectarian and ethnic conflicts in its country are also important threats to its political stability. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is committed to maintaining regional peace, security and stability, and its purpose of jointly combating terrorism, separatism and extremism coincides with India's demands. At the same time, the important role played by the organization in helping the peaceful settlement of the Afghan issue and other regional affairs has also made India pay more attention to the opportunity of in-depth cooperation with it.
India is an important member of the "Quadruple Mechanism" (QUAD) of the United States, Japan, India and Australia, and an important participant in the newly established "Quadruple Group" (I2U2) in July 2022 by the United States, India, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. What does India's active actions during the SCO summit mean? The author believes that India's tough statement when it attended the first round of ministerial meeting of the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" in September 2022 may have implied an answer to this question. According to reports, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Goyal said after the meeting that "we have not yet seen what benefits will be gained" and announced that he would temporarily withdraw from negotiations in the trade field, one of the four pillars of the framework. This shows that, against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis and evolving US-India relations, India will stick to its claimed independent diplomatic tradition and ambition to pursue great power status.
After assuming the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2022-2023, what India will do is also the focus of attention from the outside world. At this summit, Modi called for "development of supply chains with reliability, resilience and diversity" and "granting each other sufficient transit rights" to promote connectivity. In-depth cooperation between the two countries in the fields of culture, medical care and education. At the same time, he said that India has the ability to promote the transformation and upgrading of its manufacturing industry by virtue of its young and abundant labor resources and its vast domestic market, so as to contribute more to the development of the SCO while maintaining its own sustained and stable economic growth. .
However, how to enhance India's influence and discourse power in the SCO, especially to actively promote the organization's positive role in regional governance and security cooperation from the perspective of transcending national boundaries, is a challenge to the Modi government's diplomatic wisdom and governance. A great test of ability.
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