On July 16, 2020, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), in cooperation with the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies (IPDS, Pakistan), held a video seminar on Russia’s Presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
On July 16, 2020, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), in cooperation with the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies (IPDS, Pakistan), held a video seminar on Russia’s Presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Opening ...
... 3:00pm (Moscow timezone), Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), together with the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies (IPDS, Pakistan), organizes an open video seminar on Russia’s presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via Zoom broadcasting to RIAC website. The event will bring together leading experts from Russia, Pakistan, and China.
The objective of the workshop is to explore the opportunities for strengthening coordination among the SCO member states and to discuss the priorities of Russia’s chairmanship of the Organization.
Programme
.
Speakers:
Andrey Kortunov, Director ...
... Pakistan in response to Pulwama terror attacks.
Therefore, within the framework of SCO, India will have to make every possible effort to not only strengthen regional cooperation but also utilise SCO summit meetings to cement bilateral engagements with SCO member states.
Nevertheless, the challenges that need to be navigated, including the new equation of growing Russia-China-Pakistan triangular convergence of interests, remain on the horizon. This has seen even Russia — India’s traditional partner — adopt a more nuanced position on New Delhi’s key strategic concerns.
With the stakes being high, deft diplomacy in an ...
... second, to show India that it was ready to defuse tensions and willing to embark on a rapprochement following the Dolam incident that had taken place a few months prior.
Mikhail Konarovsky:
Bonus for the “Big Eight” in Qingdao: Some Thoughts on the SCO Summit
Islamabad was concerned about China’s support for India’s statements. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Khawaja Muhammad Asif
said
that Pakistan needs “to break our false image […] We need to accept the history and correct ourselves.” Asif noted that “We need to tell our friends that we have improved our house. We need to bring our house ...
... and for its positioning on the world stage in its new and expanded composition. This was due to significant deepening of the SCO’s geopolitical dimension following the accession of India and Pakistan last year, whose leaders first took part in the organization’s activities at the Qingdao summit. As a result of the ... ... world’s largest association, the global nature of which Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to in an
interview
with the China Media Group on June 6, 2018.
Against this background, the detailed Declaration adopted at the summit emphasized that the ...
... that of the SCO (especially considering the fact that the latter has now been joined by the strategic antipodes of India and Pakistan). In fact, many of the security issues in the region will continue to be resolved bilaterally rather than multilaterally.
So, it turns out that the continuing institutional weakness of the SCO, coupled with its extremely broad mandate and the erosion of the Russia–China core through the adoption of new members can transform the organization into a suitcase without a handle: something too ...
... officially financed Indian IDSA,
wrote
that “India joining the SCO has largely a symbolic meaning.” He adds that “there is lack of clarity about what it means for India in terms of any specific function and benefits.”
China agreed to let India (and Pakistan) join the SCO because China itself now largely sees the SCO in symbolic terms. China, for a number of years, tried to get Russia to agree on a greater economic focus within the SCO. But Russia refused, and instead continued to push its idea of — in the words of Luzyanin ...
... able to secure the membership in parallel with India.However, this achievement doesn’t come without major liabilities. Speaking at a briefing in Beijing on June 1, 2017, the spokesperson of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying said that China hoped Pakistan and India would improve bilateral relations after becoming the full members of SCO. “We hope that Pakistan and India will inject new impetus to the development of SCO.”Pakistan must share its counter-terrorism experience with SCO member-states, especially Russia and the Central Asian states, for whom ‘terrorism, extremism ...
... in the past as a result of pressures on its western borders. From India’s point of view this should not lead to bolstering China’s primacy in Asia. India, as the second biggest power in Asia in every respect — the Indian economy is slated to surpass ... ... some projections — should be a much more integral part of Russia’s Asian strategy.
The belief in some Russian quarters that Pakistan can be a participant in major SCO or BRICS infrastructure and other projects within the framework of the India-Russia strategic relationship is unlikely to ...
... economically intertwined. Russia depends on Indian defence spending largesse that promises an investment of US$ 100 billion in nuclear industry sector alone. Owing to this, New Delhi exercises substantial leverage over Moscow’s foreign policy. China and Russia have exercised pragmatism in dealing with Indo-U.S. Axis and made India member of SCO in perhaps a hope that India may revert to its so-called policy of non-alignment.Pakistan believes that the simultaneous inclusion of Pakistan and India in SCO would help in bringing the two countries on the same table and in reducing the trust deficit between them. However, there is a misperception that because of the so-called Indo-U....
