New Delhi
21 March 2007
As New Delhi prepares for upgrading its ties with Tokyo by holding
joint naval exercises and negotiates a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with
Washington, Beijing has said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was
drafting a document that will define criteria in the accession of new members.
Kazakhstan and Russia have already asked India to join the regional security alliance.
Diplomatic sources said that provisions have been worked out for welcoming India as a
full-fledged member and that it was for India to decide now.
Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee will pay an official visit to Japan on
Thursday and Friday. He will hold the first strategic dialogue at the level of foreign
ministers with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso. He would also call on the Japanese
premier. India and Japan are expected to hold joint military exercises. The United States
(US) is likely to join India and Japan for trilateral exercises.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who will pay a state visit to Russia from March 26 to 28,
has said that the SCO was preparing a document on further expansion of the six-member
regional security alliance. India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan and Afghanistan have observer
status. Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have applied for full membership but India has not.
India went under-represented in the 2006 meeting of the heads of government of
members and observers of SCO as New Delhi deputed Union Minister of State Prithviraj
Chavan.
Mr Hu said on Tuesday, "Trilateral cooperation between China, Russia and India is not
aimed against any third party and is beneficial for the development of these three
nations and that of the world at large. All three countries advocate a multipolar world, the
democratisation of international relations, and the preservation of world diversity. They
want international issues and interstate disputes to be settled on the basis of
universally accepted norms of international law and seek a consolidated role for the
United Nations."
A senior research fellow with the Chinese Institute for Contemporary International
Relations, Professor Ma Jiali recently told PTI that New Delhi could try to cooperate with
Pakistan within the SCO and also use the SCO platform to enhance cooperation on key
issues like energy security, counter-terrorism, drug trafficking and trans-border crimes. "I
hope India would continue to follow an independent foreign policy and not become a
pawn in the sophisticated US strategic calculations to contain China," he said.
The Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek is expected to host the 2007 summit in August.
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