New normal, SCO members set aside bilateral disputes

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, November 5

In what appears to be a new normal, representatives from Pakistan and China will be among the attendees for the second SCO national coordinator’s meet under Indian presidency which will take place later this month in Goa.

In stark contrast to the petulance shown by the G7 group of advanced countries, who have disrupted two meetings of G20 because of their dispute with Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has not let bilateral disputes affect its functioning so far.

At the first meeting of the Council of National Coordinators of the SCO member-states here in hybrid form from October 17 to 20, delegates from Pakistan and China along with representatives from four Central Asian countries — Russia, China and Iran — joined their Indian counterparts to hammer out the agenda for the organisation. A delegation of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure headed by Deputy Director Kanat Orazkulov also participated.

In contrast, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen initiated a walkout of other Finance Ministers of advanced economies when G20 Ministers met in New York in September last year. Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland posted a photo on social media which claimed that 10 Finance Ministers had walked out. But an equal number of Finance Ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman, stayed back.

There was a repeat of this disruption at G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Bali where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov left the meeting ahead of schedule after G7 members threatened to boycott a joint photo opportunity and official dinner. India took over the presidency of the SCO and is expected to host the SCO summit next year.

In contrast, top leaders of all SCO members met for the summit at Samarkand in September even though ties between New Delhi and Beijing are strained. Similarly, relations between India and Pakistan are also not at their best.