Pakistan, India Join The Strategically Important Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO)
By G. Asgar Mitha
14 July, 2015
Countercurrents.org
I've drawn blanks searching the western media coverage of the rather very important SCO summit hosted by Russia. Why there has been no coverage is beyond understanding.
Besides the admission of Pakistan and India in the SCO, other important events have been also been held in Ufa, Russia on 8-10 July, 2015 such as the summit of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and S. Africa). Mr Putin also said that Belarus would obtain observer status, joining Afghanistan, Iran and Mongolia, while Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal would be welcomed as “dialogue partners”. Iran's full membership in the SCO has been delayed due to the on-going international nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 countries.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while accepting the admission of his nation within the SCO stated that "The spirit of SCO abhors hegemony and coercion in international affairs." For Pakistan, the evils of extremism, terrorism and drug trafficking have impeded its economic growth and have threatened not only the stability of Pakistan but of South and Central Asia in particular.
Pakistan's foreign and defense policies are clearly dictated and guided by the military under General Raheel Sharif's who is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). The civilian administration remains under the guidance of the Prime Minister who is democratically elected by the people. Accordingly what Nawaz Sharif stated about hegemony and coercion was reflecting the military's position and not the civilian position. The message also represents a major shift in Pakistan's foreign and defense policies.
In no unequivocal language, it has been made clear that SCO members will not tolerate hegemony designs towards the region. This comes as a message to NATO.
The seeds of the three evils were implanted in Afghanistan and Pakistan during the late 1970s under the regime of President Zia-ul-Haq by the US and Saudi Arabia's fanatical version of Islam which bred the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and now Islamic States (IS). There is no further need to delve into the subject as much has already been written about the connivance of the US and Saudi Arabia in promoting regional instability. The price that Pakistan has paid for falling into the trap can only be reversed by it joining the SCO along with India. China, Russia and the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan could provide the needed stability and most importantly a relief from terrorism which has haunted Pakistan for over three decades.
During the confirmation hearing of General Joseph Dunsford at the US Senate Armed Services Committee on 9 July, 2015 the lawmakers showed a keen interest in the future of US-Pakistan relations. Dunsford pointed that The United States still has three key interests in Pakistan and those are averting Al Qaeda’s re-emergence, preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and promoting regional stability. The American hypocrisy is nothing new. The US has had a hand in the past in Al Qaeda's emergence and the spread of terrorism. It is also in the vital interests of the US that Pakistan should be denuclearized, more so now than ever as Pakistan has joined SCO. Pakistan has recently demonstrated that its military is quite capable of countering and containing terrorism. It is important that the US should stay out of the region in order to let the three countries Pakistan, Afghanistan and India contain terrorism and promote peace with the support of China and Russia.
During the SCO summit, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan praised Pakistan for its efforts to facilitate peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and expressed the hope that it would lead to a lasting peace and stability in his country.
Besides Pakistan, India has also been warmly embraced within the SCO during the summit and it is expected that over the years, the two nuclear countries along with the other two nuclear countries Russia and China will provide the military balance in the east (Asia) with that of the western military and nuclear powers - the US, UK and France. Beijing also said the induction of India and Pakistan into the China-Russia-led regional security bloc, SCO, will boost bilateral relationship between the two countries.
In a recent article by Paul Craig Roberts titled Pentagon Concludes America Not Safe Unless It Conquers The World (http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/07/10/pentagon-concludes-america-safe-unless-conquers-world-paul-craig-roberts-3/ ), Mr. Roberts in referencing National Military Strategy of the United States of America 2015 (http://news.usni.org/2015/07/02/document-2015-u-s-national-military-strategy) has written that "Governments that challenge international norms are sovereign countries (notably Russia, China, N. Korea and Iran) that pursue policies independently of Washington’s policies. These “revisionist states” are threats, not because they plan to attack the US, which the Pentagon admits neither Russia nor China intend, but because they are independent. In other words, the norm is dependence on Washington." Now a key member of the SCO, it seems Pakistan has joined the ranks of the revisionist states. Subsequently Pakistan's leaders should be wary of US intentions towards the nation.
In conclusion, Oriental Review and Countercurrents had published an article by this author titled "Middle East: The Regional Chessboard" in October 2014 providing details of several alliances (including SCO and NATO) that will likely shape the future of the strategic regions of the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Eurasia. The article can be read on http://orientalreview.org/2014/10/20/middle-east-the-regional-chessboard/ and http://www.countercurrents.org/mitha191014.htm
G. Asgar Mitha recently retired from working with a large oil company in Canada as a Technical Safety Engineer
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