The global prospects of the SCO

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a shake-up of the world order as they met with Asian leaders Friday for a summit challenging Western influence. According to the details, Chinese President Xi Jinping told leaders at the SCO summit that it was time to reshape the international system and abandon zero-sum games and bloc politics. According to him, the leaders should work together to promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction. During the summit, President Vladimir Putin blasted western nations and accused them of using instruments of protectionism, illegal sanctions, and economic selfishness in their dealing with other nations.

The 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of the state summit concluded in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Friday. The summit offered an opportunity to the leaders of SCO’s member nations, which includes important countries of Euroasia including four nuclear powers Russia, China, Pakistan, and India, while the former two nations also occupy permanent membership of the UNSC, which gives a unique importance to the forum in the global community. As said, the regional leaders discussed bloc trade and investment, energy cooperation, liaison and cooperation in Counterterrorism, defense, and security. Besides the promotion of bilateral trade and investment, the recent huddle provided a valuable opportunity for China’s Xi Jinping to shore up his campaign to project Chinese economic and military influence through greater cooperation with regional and extra-regional nations. While Putin used the gathering to shied off his isolation and boost the trade with regional nations, similarly other leaders bargained their commodities and discussed mutual issues during their interaction on the sidelines of the summit. In fact, the summit has been put forward as an alternative to western-centric organizations at a time when the western bloc is fully aligned against their traditional rivals Russia and China, and both Asian powers are frustrated by the west’s unlimited support for Ukraine and the provocation of the Taiwan issue globally.

The SCO has emerged as a powerful economic bloc that has unimaginable potential for regional cooperation and development if member nations use this forum to maximize their potential through increased cooperation including transfer of technology, removal of trade barriers, enhanced regional connectivity, and trade so all members states benefit from each other resources and technical skill. However, the bloc has been largely married by extending its membership to nations like India, which has contradicting manifesto and cross-secting interests with the majority of the SCO member nations. Currently, India is a vanguard of the western bloc in the region and playing a pillager role in the enhancement of western interests to fulfill its hegemonic designs in South Asia. Due to internal disunity, the summit failed to issue a joint communique.

Presently, western nations are downplaying the prospects of SCO and trying to exploit mutual differences among the member states. Putin and Xi had called for new world order and encouraged the bloc members to work for a more just and equitable world but surely no nation would be ready to plunge itself into the ongoing rivalry between major powers. Therefore, both supermen should distribute the dividends of their development and prosperity to regional countries so they voluntarily support the proposed new world order.