India at the Helm: Future Directions for the SCO

From being an observer state in 2005 to gaining full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2017, time has come for India to shoulder the Chairmanship and host the SCO Summit of 2023. The baton to chair the Summit of 2023 for the 8-member Organization was passed onto India from Uzbekistan, at the Samarkand Summit of 2022. India’s continued interest in its extended neighbourhood has a multi-faceted approach, which the country hopes to pursue in a way which results in development for all parties involved.

India is currently looking forward to cooperation with member states on matters of counter-terrorism and bringing about stability within the realm of Afghanistan, along with facing the post-pandemic repercussions and economic recovery for member states, while managing supply-chain breakage and food and energy crises.

India’s interests consist in capacity-building in the central Asian region, while battling the issues of extremism, radicalization and counter-terrorism and moving towards positive development by means of greater connectivity and energy security. Moreover, development projects undertaken by India in collaboration with CARs have focused on multiple training-based initiatives, as well as financial development, along with technical and economic cooperation programmes.

The field for India to bring about positive change within the community of the SCO through enduring partnerships, is wide open. With India occupying such a position of impact on the global stage, with both her Presidency of the G20 and the Chairmanship of the SCO being manoeuvred by her at the same time, New Delhi has a tremendous opportunity to make its mark on the global platform and cause major international players to take serious note of her rapidly growing position.

From being an observer state in 2005 to gaining full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2017, time has come for India to shoulder the Chairmanship and host the SCO Summit of 2023. The baton to chair the Summit of 2023 for the 8-member Organization was passed onto India from Uzbekistan, at the Samarkand Summit of 2022.

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As an international body constituting 40% of the world’s population and 30% of the global GDP, the member states of the SCO are focused on deliberating on regional matters of concern and engaging in multilateral cooperation for mutually beneficial goals involving sustainable development, trade, connectivity and regional security amongst others.

India’s continued interest in its extended neighbourhood has a multi-faceted approach, which the country hopes to pursue in a way which results in development for all parties involved. India has had a long and closely entwined history with Central Asia, dating back as far as the 3^rd Century BC. Now, with the rotating leadership of the Organization having fallen on India, New Delhi is provided with the perfect opportunity to push for regional interests that it has been working towards for years.

New Delhi has been vocal in its advocacy for better connectivity with the Central Asian Republics and the larger Eurasian region for over a decade. 2012 saw the inception of India’s Connect Central-Asia Policy, which aimed at fostering warm ties with the nations of the region along geopolitical and geo-economic lines. The biggest challenge that has stood in the way of deepening ties between India and the CARS (Central-Asian Republics) has been the glaring lack of connectivity, which the two parties have been attempting to bridge for years.

Factors from other states, particularly Afghanistan’s political instability and Pakistan’s refusal to give India access, have resolutely stood in the way of India’s attempts to pave connectivity through to Central Asia.

India’s refusal to become a signatory of the BRI, which was rolled out in 2013 as the China’s massive master plan to bridge the distance throughout Eurasia and connect both continents, was owed to China’s proposed projects with Pakistan under CPEC, which extend till Kashmir, something India identifies as a violation of its territorial integrity.

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However, India’s keenness to expand its reach into the energy-rich geostrategic region of Central Asia has culminated in multiple projects pursued for increased connectivity. The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is just one such example. Spanning across 7,200 km, this agreement signed between India, Russia and Iran for the Corridor allows for India to expand its reach as far as St. Petersburg through sea, rail and road routes, cutting down on transit time by a considerable 40%, and freight expenditure by 30%.

Another project that India is intent on is the Chabahar port, involving a trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Uzbekistan. The Port allows for New Delhi to open into the Central Asian market. Countries like the U.S., among other global powers, also tend to endorse such projects.

Pakistan previously obstructed the highly utilitarian Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline by refusing to let it go through its borders citing security concerns. The pipeline is of immense significance to South Asia—given the immense amount of resources in Central Asia, the pipeline offers tremendous potential for meeting energy needs of the entire region.

These projects need to be brought to the forefront and promoted in order to increase the trade and commerce relations between the regions. It is imperative to bridge the gap between some of the most productive states to be able to flow into a profitable and enviable market such as the one India possesses. The CARs are rapidly coming up as centres of production and suppliers of raw materials globally, and India’s vast market stands to provide a very advantageous arrangement for the region’s flow of supply.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has presented itself as a major stage for India to advocate for her interests in the rich Central Asian region. During the 2022 session of the SCO’s Council of Heads of State, Prime Minister Modi implored member states to develop “reliable, resilient and diversified supply chains” in the region.

India is currently looking forward to cooperation with member states on matters of counter-terrorism and bringing about stability within the realm of Afghanistan, along with facing the post-pandemic repercussions and economic recovery for member states, while managing supply-chain breakage and food and energy crises.

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In the most recent meetings of the SCO SAI Leaders’ (Supreme Audit Institutions) held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (India), the Comptroller and Auditor General of India signed two Memoranda of Understanding with Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. The MoUs aim at strengthening the cooperation and exchange of expertise in the field of finance and auditing.

India’s interests consist in capacity-building in the central Asian region, while battling the issues of extremism, radicalization and counter-terrorism and moving towards positive development by means of greater connectivity and energy security. Moreover, development projects undertaken by India in collaboration with CARs have focused on multiple training-based initiatives, as well as financial development, along with technical and economic cooperation programmes.

The field for India to bring about positive change within the community of the SCO through enduring partnerships, is wide open. With India occupying such a position of impact on the global stage, with both her Presidency of the G20 and the Chairmanship of the SCO being manoeuvred by her at the same time, New Delhi has a tremendous opportunity to make its mark on the global platform and cause major international players to take serious note of her rapidly growing position.