Representatives of the member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) came together in the 18th Heads of Government Council meeting of SCO in Tashkent, the capital of the Uzbekistan, on 01-02 November, 2019. CEO of the Afghan government, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah also participated in this meeting. The face of this organization is directly linked to the situation in Afghanistan and the attention, concern and enthusiasm of the organization has increased in the last eight years. In view of the value of this organization in the region, Afghanistan also called for full membership of the organization last year. The Afghan CEO had meetings with premiers of Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran deputy president and the Indian Minister of defense on the sidelines of the latest meeting of this organization. Given the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s 18th Summit, what is the role of SCO members in Afghan peace? And what is the role of the members of the organization as a whole in the facets of Afghan peace? It is analyzed here.
SCO Summit at a Glance
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established in 2001, with the aim of promoting cooperation between the member states in security, political, commercial, economic, and many other fields. In 2001, with the addition of Uzbekistan the Shanghai-5 changes its name into Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In 2004, Mongolia became the first observer of SCO, in 2005 India and Pakistan also became observers and in 2012, due to Chinese support, Afghanistan was also awarded as an observer of this organization. In 2015, SCO grant memberships to India and Pakistan and by 2016 they would start as permanent members of SCO. Shanghai Cooperation Organization is working as a forum for the mutual trust, neighborly relations and boost cooperation in politics, trade, economy, culture and education, energy and transport between its members. There are currently eight permanent members of the Organization (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan), Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and the countries of Mongolia, and Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey. And Sri Lankan countries are known as talking partners
The 18th Summit of SCO
Given the current situation in Afghanistan, the involvement of the SCO is essential in the Afghan peace process, so the member states of the organization also pay attention to the organization in terms of its role in the Afghan peace process. The daughter added that this conference was important to Afghanistan. The focus of this meeting was on the internal structure and work of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and in the year 1 and 2019, the work undertaken by the memorandum was assessed and the memorandum of organization was established in 2020. The Budget and Plan of the Year were discussed as well as the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-operate with other international communities, and in this meeting, useful cooperation in the area of environment, joint fight against terrorism, drugs. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, illicit references to money, illicit trade of light weapons, economic development, transport cooperation. And industrial growth was also discussed.
In the economic field: In the economic field, Member States should increase their trade bargaining rates and reduce taxation among Member States, as well as Member States share information about natural concessions in their regions. Impressing neighbors, exchanging information between the leaders and officials of the countries to promote international terrorism in the country and establish coordination among those responsible, sharing their experiences and information with each other on mutual management and interdisciplinary projects. Work to accelerate economic growth in the region.Cooperation in the Environment: Member States will work together not only to develop programs for environmental protection but also to implement them, especially in the border areas. Joint Counter-Terrorism: Member States must cooperate with their national laws to eradicate terrorism and prevent violent and separatist acts. Joint Counter-Narcotics: Member States will take steps to eliminate drug trafficking, human trafficking, illicit references to money and other harmful substances. Member States should promote dialogue between civilizations against each other in the civil war. Political and military: Enduring stability and strengthening interpersonal trust in the military-political arena.
Sideline Meetings on Afghanistan
The SCO concerns about Afghanistan have been increased due to Afghanistan’s situation; that’s why the SCO has given more attentions to Afghanistan. Therefore, the ongoing 18th SCO summit was important for Afghanistan.
The sideline meeting in important for Afghanistan, is as follows:
Requests regional countries to create regional consensus on counter-terrorism: Abdullah Abdullah, the chief executive of the Afghan government, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Afghan government, said that a regional strategy and strategy for counter-terrorism was needed to work together. Counter-terrorism, Afghanistan is currently besieged by terrorism, and so the cooperation of the SCO regional countries depends on the peace and stability of Afghanistan. It is imperative, therefore, to work together to resolve the common problems in the region through a fair, peaceful and dignified approach to ending the war.
Moscow-Afghan relations: The CEO of the Afghan National Unity Government has met with the Russian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the summit. The visit has three major components: first: strengthening bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia; second: the Afghan peace process; and third: the fight against drugs.
Relations with regional countries: Afghan CEO Dr Abdullah Abdullah at the sidelines of 18th SCO summit met with the prime ministers of few regional countries. He invited Uzbekistani Prime minister to Kabul, talked with Russian Prime minister on security and economic cooperation and moreover talks on bilateral ties with Tajik and Indian delegation
Role of the SCO member states in Afghan peace
Over the past eighteen years, the SCO has become the largest and regional regional cooperation organization in the world, which is the largest in terms of population and population across the globe. The general economic volume and population of the member states of the organization are 20% and 50% of the world separately. It has established extensive cooperative relations with the United Nations and other international and regional organizations and has extended its global influence. And all member states of this organization have influence in all aspects of the war in Afghanistan, so some of the countries involved in this organization can play a positive role in the Afghan peace process, with China having its own economic influence. The basis can be to put pressure on regional countries [Pakistan] so that groups that have some kind of role in Afghan insecurity can bring the dialogue to the table. Tell the main side of the Afghan war, that Afghan peace can be resolved through dialogue and that we will also cooperate in resolving it through dialogue. Ray wants a solution through the war, and we do not cooperate with him, so if these countries really want to do so, America cannot stay here for long.
Conclusion
The 18th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is being held at a time when the results of the Afghan presidential election have not been known and once again the regional and international level peace talks have been called for. The European Union, the Quadrilateral meeting on Afghan peace in Moscow and the inter-Afghan meeting being held in China in the near future, is something that will once again bring about lasting peace in Afghanistan. Hopes have fallen; the organization is influencing the parties involved in the Afghan war, hoping that they will use their influence in this regard to end the imposed war on the Afghans and for Afghan peace, which is now an endeavor. It is ongoing that their cooperation should be accelerated so that by playing their positive role, we can create a regional consensus for the coming of Afghan peace and ending the war. It is also necessary for Afghan politicians to announce the results of the presidential elections as soon as possible and the winning team will take drastic steps to form the new government and the victorious electoral teams will be formed with the winning team on the new government and the Afghan government. At the beginning of the peace process, we must cooperate fully so that we can strengthen our international position and reach a lasting peace in Afghanistan.