Iran set to be included in India-led SCO, Belarus in waiting

The Foreign Ministers of the member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), who went into a huddle in a two-day meeting that kicked off in Goa on Thursday under India’s chairmanship, are expected to deliberate extensively on the expansion of the grouping.

The crucial meeting takes place ahead of the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) Summit which is scheduled to be held on July 3-4 in New Delhi and is expected to witness an in-person participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and several other top leaders.

The foreign affairs ministers will focus on the content of the upcoming meeting of the SCO leaders, including discussing draft documents that are meant to be submitted for consideration by the heads of the member states.

They will also approve the draft decision of the SCO CHS on granting Iran the status of a member state, and will discuss Belarus’ appeal on a possible acceleration of the procedure for its admission to the organisation.

Memorandums are also expected to be signed on the margins on granting the status of a dialogue partner of the SCO to Bahrain, Kuwait, Myanmar, the Maldives, and the United Arab Emirates, which will open up new opportunities for connecting these countries to the work of the association in areas of mutual interest.

Around 100 events, including ministerial and expert meetings, forums, seminars and festivals, have already been held under India’s SCO chairmanship which is aimed at promoting diverse cooperation in the region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who arrived in Goa early Thursday, appreciated the active work done by India and promised to effectively promote the implementation of New Delhi’s future plans.

Ahead of the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the final political declaration will set out the parties’ consolidated approaches to key issues of the SCO’s activities, as well as topical issues on the global and regional agenda.

It stated that top-level thematic statements are called upon to promote SCO cooperation in addressing such issues as deradicalization, climate change, digital transformation, and food security.

“In the context of the joint counteraction of the SCO member states to terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and cross-border organised crime, the ministers will focus on the state of affairs in Afghanistan, based on the importance of stopping the threat of ‘spillover’ of instability from this country to the SCO space,” said the Russian MFA.

The exchange of views on key regional and international problems is intended to focus on issues of foreign policy coordination in the interests of strengthening the UN’s central coordinating role in ensuring reliable global security and sustainable economic development.

As part of the line on diversifying cooperation in the economic dimension, documents are being prepared for the SCO summit aimed at deepening cooperation in the areas of entrepreneurship development, innovation, and improving the socio-economic well-being of the population.

Among the priorities is the launch of full-scale project activities using flexible participation schemes. Another promising vector is the acceleration of the process of increasing the share of national currencies in mutual settlements of the SCO member states on the basis of the Roadmap approved by the CUG Decision in September last year.

Saturated cultural and humanitarian cooperation has also established itself as one of the supporting pillars in the SCO. The partners are considering Russian proposals to establish an Association of Sports Organisations under the auspices of the SCO, to hold the SCO Games open to other countries, and also to establish the SCO Medical Association.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar began Thursday with a “productive interaction” with Secretary General of the organisation, Zhang Ming.

“Indian presidency is driven by a commitment to SECURE SCO. Its key focus areas are startups, traditional medicine, youth empowerment, buddhist heritage and science and technology. Looking forward to a successful CFM in Goa,” tweeted Jaishankar after the meeting.

Also Read: Why India will go all out to dig its heels in Eurasia during Goa SCO conference