New Delhi
1 July 2005
New Delhi has chosen to settle for a subdued participation in the July
5 meeting of the SCO in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, where India, Iran and Pakistan are
expected to be given observer status for the first time. Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev has written a letter inviting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but External
Affairs Minister Natwar Singh would stand in for Dr Singh at the meeting of the regional
grouping.
The "protocol mismatch" becomes apparent because the presidents of China and Russia
would travel to Astana for the SCO meeting before reaching Gleneagles in Scotland for
the G-8 summit, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would attend besides the heads
of state of certain countries that have been invited to the summit of the world's eight
largest economies. The contrast is striking also because India had been seeking
observer status since the inception of SCO.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was founded in 2001 by China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The organisation was then called
Shanghai Six. At a meeting early this month in Astana, SCO members agreed in principle
to give India, Pakistan and Iran observer status. The SCO will make a formal decision on
it at its summit scheduled for next week in Astana. Mongolia was admitted as an
observer in 2004.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is expected to head his country's delegation while
Iran, which has voted the ultraconservative mayor of Tehran Mahmoud Ahmedinejad as
its next president, could be represented by its foreign minister Kharazi or even vice
president Araf. Chinese President Hu Jintao would be travelling to Kazakhstan after
concluding a state visit to Russia. This would be his second state visit to Kazakhstan as
Chinese President.
China is keen to extend its sphere of influence to reach the Central Asian republics in
general and Kazakhstan in particular. Work on constructing an oil pipeline from
Kazakhstan to China with up to 20 million-tonne capacity is expected to be completed by
the year-end. Reports suggest that talks are also on over a gas pipeline. This is besides
Beijing's efforts to push for Russian oil; the two countries have agreed on constructing
an oil pipeline.
China has welcomed the SCO's move to recommend observer status to India, Iran and
Pakistan, saying it would enhance mutually beneficial cooperation among the member
states. Secretary-General of SCO Zhang Deguang told reporters in Beijing that member-
states of the SCO had conducted a study whether granting observer status to India and
Pakistan would affect the working of the organisation and they reached the conclusion
that it will not.
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