India draws attention to Pakistan, China’s role in undermining SCO

United Nations, July 20 While India stressed the importance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for the region, it also drew attention to the role of Pakistan and China in undermining the organisation.

Although neither country was mentioned by name, references to terrorism were directed at Pakistan and China and the need to respect China’s territorial integrity in the address to the Security Council on Friday by R. Ravindra, the charge d’affaires of India’s UN mission.

“Certain countries use terrorism as an instrument of state policy. Such an approach can affect cooperation in multilateral platforms, including the SCO,” he said.

“India has also consistently advocated respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of connectivity and infrastructure projects,” he said in what is seen as a reference to Chinese projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

He was speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council convened by the current chair, Russia. The meeting was about cooperation between the UN and regional and subregional organizations such as the SCO, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in maintaining international peace and security.

“India attaches high priority to consolidating security trust within the SCO and strengthening ties with SCO partners on the basis of equality, respect and mutual understanding,” Ravindra said.

“India’s priorities in SCO are shaped by Prime Minister’s (Narendra Modi) vision of a ‘SECURE’ SCO, he said, explaining that ‘SECURE’ stands for Security, Economic Cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity, and Environmental Protection”.

The Security Council resolutions and targeted sanctions against terrorists and groups must be fully implemented, he said.

“The July 4 SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, stated in its statement that the international community must isolate and expose countries that harbor terrorists and tolerate terrorism,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who participated virtually in the summit, called for the fight against terrorism to be made a key part of the declaration.

He had told leaders at the summit: “Let us be clear: if we do not contain this, it could pose a major threat to regional and global peace.”

However, US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield raised objections to the SCO’s counter-terrorism efforts.

She accused the SCO of oppressing “peaceful dissenters” and ethnic and religious minorities “under the guise of combating ‘terrorism, separatism and extremism'”.

“I think of the SCO member states that have persecuted individuals for speaking out about the importance of regional political autonomy. Those that have forcibly repatriated asylum seekers fleeing repression in other SCO member states,” she said.

Thomas-Greenfield said the regional organizations “cynically promoted concepts such as ‘dialogue among civilizations’ or ‘civilizational diversity’ in an attempt to justify restrictions on the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The SCO is an international group of ten members focused on Central Asia. India has been an official member since 2015.

The other members are Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran, the four Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, and Russia’s European ally Belarus, which joined this month.

“India has close cultural ties with the people of Central Asia,” Ravindra said.

India has offered a $1 billion credit line for development projects, besides grants for High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for countries in Central Asia, he said.

The India-Central Asia Dialogue Platform aims to strengthen cooperation between India and Central Asian countries, he added.

He further said that India’s contract to develop the Chabahar port in Iran “is a testament to our commitment to realising the potential of the site as a connectivity hub for Afghanistan and Central Asia”, countries that are not coastal areas.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, who chaired the meeting, said that the SCO, CIS and CVTO “have achieved significant results, including promoting integration processes, preventing conflicts and combating terrorism.”

“A constant priority of the SCO is to combat the threats of terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime, especially those emanating from Afghanistan,” he added.

China’s Permanent Representative Fu Cong also touched on the dangers of terrorism, even as his country provides protection from UN sanctions for terrorists based in Pakistan.

“Terrorism, separatism and extremism pose a major threat to global security,” he said.

China wants the UN to work with the SCO to “strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the fight against terrorism,” he said.

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