By Deepak Joshi Pokhrel
There is an old adage that says, “Nothing happens in a decade, but sometimes many things happen in a week.” This time-tested adage was corroborated a few weeks ago in Tianjin, China: the event was the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). In the summit, the new narrative – multilateralism and the rise of the global south – took a new shape. To say that the two-day event has taken a bold and decisive step in the consolidation of a multipolar world based on equal partnership and multilateralism.
Viewed as the first of its kind since its inception in 2001, the SCO summit this year grabbed international attention. The reason was not because of the representation of the leaders from across the global south but because it succeeded in bringing three emerging powerhouses – Russia, China, and India – under one roof. The event successfully offered a space for the leaders from these nations to express their solidarity, sending a clear and loud message to the West, mainly the US and Brussels.
The SCO was formally established at China’s initiative on 15 June 2001. The major purpose for forming the SCO was to promote cooperation in combating terrorism and promoting energy cooperation. The other key purpose was to enhance connectivity by fostering infrastructure development, encouraging economic integration and facilitating people-to-people exchange. The organisation also supports collaborative efforts in areas like transport, energy, culture and digital economy to build a more interconnected and prosperous Eurasia. As the SCO president, China organised more than 100 events, including ministerial and various levels of meetings, the SCO political parties’ forum the think tank summit and an art festival under the theme of the SCO Year of Sustainable Development.
Ever since it came into existence, the SCO summit has been organised on a regular basis. But this time, the tone and tenor seemed completely different from its past event, showcasing power projection against Western domination. Along with other key issues, the event prioritised a broad framework of cooperation for the socio-economic betterment of the region. What was very encouraging was the fact that leaders from less economically powerful nations, including Nepal, were accorded high priority.
The active participation of the Russian president and the Indian prime minister has highlighted the growing bonhomie between Russia, India and China, something which has upset the US. Just a few days prior to the event, the US had imposed a 50% tariff on India over its defiance in buying oil from Russia. The US expected India to ditch its long-standing friend and stop buying oil from Russia. But India defied the US proposal, sending shockwaves to the US.
At the same time, China and India, which have been confronting each other over the border issues, seemed to have buried their hatchet. The Chinese Foreign Minister visited Delhi right before the summit, which many observers say was a significant visit in improving their relationship. To say that the visit laid the foundation for fostering their bilateral ties.
India, China and Russia, with massive economic and strategic strength outside NATO and the G7, used the summit to present an alternative to global governance and collaborative partnership. They projected that they are eager to come closer against the western hegemony, signaling a rise of a multipolar world in global order.
Likewise, the SCO summit offered ample space to more than 40 per cent of the global population against the unipolar domination of the western world. More importantly, it brought Russia, China and India closer together as the pivot of the emerging new global order based on multilateralism and collaborative partnership.
Over the past decades, SCO has taken significant steps to reframe the global economic and security system. The highly placed reports say that the Russian President Putin has proposed issuing joint bonds as a strategy to deepen economic integration within the group and subsequently reduce dependency on the Western economic system. The report also says that the Chinese president announced a plan to establish an SCO development bank to replace Western financial institutions as an alternative to funding development infrastructures. Furthermore, the summit also came out with a suggestion to develop a common currency, challenging the US dollar hegemony in international trade.
Of course, these are truly novel ideas aimed at fostering economic cooperation by infrastructure development and building a more interconnected and prosperous Eurasia. To say, if they are really implemented, they carry a significant potential to deliver a severe blow to the Western economic system. But one should not forget that organisations like SCO with the same aura were also formed in the past. They generated significant euphoria in the initial stage. Their charisma reached its height immediately after their formation. However, with the passage of time, they lost their aura and charm, making it a body with no real essence. We hope that SCO will not meet the same fate.
In a nutshell, the SCO summit this year has raised the eyebrows of the West, including the US and Brussels. It can also be viewed as a wake-up call for the US. But the implementation of the commitment made in the summit is a challenging task, given the rapidly changing global order. Similarly, the diverse development paradigm and priorities, socio-economic context, political frames and geopolitical disputes are other grave challenges to turning the commitment into a reality. Finally, the bilateral relations of the SCO members with vested interests could also pose a grave threat to realizing the commitment of the SCO.
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