- A test for PM’s diplomatic skills
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has great importance for Pakistan. What remains to be seen is whether the government has the capacity to make full use of its membership of the group. The foremost purpose of the SCO is to strengthen relations among member states and encourage cooperation in economic, scientific and cultural fields, and also safeguard regional peace, security and stability.
SCO member countries do not constitute a monolithic bloc. China and India have fought a war and have unresolved border disputes. Despite this, China is the biggest trade partner of India with bilateral trade reaching $84.44 billion in 2017-18. Russia privately grumbles over the growing Chinese footprint in Central Asia, once a Soviet backyard, but close ties with China have helped it to overcome the US and EU sanctions. China wants Russia and India to stand by it to counter US protectionism. India wants to navigate between two contradictory imperatives, on the one hand acting as a partner of China- and Russia-led SCO while on the other avoiding being seen as a part of what the USA considers ‘an anti-American gang’. A mature leadership keeps the SCO members glued together by hammering out a policy that is seen to be beneficial for all.
Reduction in hostility between India and Pakistan will lead to increased trade. It will also reduce the military budgets on both sides, bringing prosperity combined with reduction in poverty and under-development. PM Imran Khan has gone out of his way to write letters to PM Modi. But letters are the least effective part of diplomacy. Personal charm, eloquence and persuasiveness, perceptiveness to sacrifice a pawn to win a queen and an overarching intellectual stature are needed to pursue national agenda at international conferences of the type. While the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has ruled out any bilateral meeting between the two PMs, spontaneous talks are never counted out in such gatherings. One will wait to see how PM Imran Khan conducts himself at the SCO and whether he can manage to have a meaningful engagement with the Indian PM. Khan needs to realise that the PM of Pakistan has many consequential tasks to fulfil other than taking the corrupt politician to task.