How India can benefit from SCO?

 

  • The grouping comprises India’s strategic partner and friend, Russia, two adversarial neighbours – China and Pakistan – and four important Central Asian Republics (CARs) – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
    • Thus, SCO presents a rare blend of history, geopolitics, cultural, civilisational and economic imperatives connecting India to Central Asia
  • The key benefits for India include:
    • SCO is a channel for India to deepen ties with Russia
    • India could use the forum to monitor and counter the influence of China and Pakistan
    • The organisation could help India expand cooperation and strengthen ties with Central Asian Republics (CARs)
  • The full membership of the SCO will provide India greater visibility in the affairs of the Eurasian region which is strategically important for India
  • It will enable India, as an integral part of the Eurasian security grouping, to neutralise centrifugal forces arising from religious extremism and terrorism in the region, with greater cooperation amongst the members
  • Further, it will help India in managing much more effectively the negative impact of a Talibanised Afghanistan, especially in the post-2014 scenario
  • Finally, energy, building trade and transportation links, and dealing with traditional and non-traditional security threats could be facilitated better through the SCO mechanism