The SCO is expected to offer solutions to emerging security and politico-economic challenges in the region. Full membership in SCO will help India to fight against terrorism and extremism and build an atmosphere for boosting trade by easing barriers.
India has been conferred full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) along with Pakistan at the recent Ufa summit. Theoretically, India will become the full member of SCO after completion of certain process by 2016. Though the procedure of commitment for becoming full member has started but there is still one full year of waiting to fulfil all the criteria.
While the SCO started as a regional organization focusing on number of specific regional issues, now its activities are even reaching to the macro-regional scale. SCO’s agenda has expanded to include an economic, security and socio-political issues and concerns. The SCO is steadily becoming multi-lateral structure and gained experience settling key issues related to state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia and China are the two main stakeholders of SCO. The SCO’s increasing number of observer states and dialogue partners shows its importance as a mechanism of regional and even macro-regional cooperation. Today, SCO is even capable of resolving pressing security issues and gaining importance within the region.
Over the last few years there has been huge increase in non-traditional and cross-border crime such as increase in the terrorist and separatist activities, drug trafficking and in the illegal immigration in the whole region. Now-a-days SCO started to focus more on the regional peace and stability issues. The SCO is now concentrating on fighting the unholy trinity of terrorism, radicalism and separatism and also focussing on to create a network of regional relationships. SCO’s decision for further expansion and India’s willingness for becoming full member matches well. India’s economic growth, potential younger generation and its growing political influence can become asset for the growth of SCO. India in turn recognizes the benefits of full membership for fighting the evils of terrorism and extremism in cooperation with other SCO members. India will be extremely keen to support the SCO’s role in stabilizing Afghanistan.
The SCO is expected to offer solutions to emerging security and politico-economic challenges in the region. Since the SCO’s inception, member states have undertaken serious efforts to make SCO a successful organisation. After getting success in making this organisation a significant regional organisation and by solving regional activities, the SCO has now decided to expand further within the Organisation. Full membership in SCO will help India to fight against terrorism and extremism and build an atmosphere for boosting trade by easing barriers.
