Conflict or Cooperation in the SCO?

India and Pakistan have been members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) since 2017. But will tensions between the two countries hinder this multilateral collaboration?

In a new article, CPD Research Fellow Zahid Shahab Ahmed (Deakin University), Sarfraz Ahmed (Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senate of Pakistan) and Stut Bhatnagar (University of Adelaide) explore whether India and Pakistan's memberships in the SCO will bring about conflict or cooperation. Security and counter-terrorism, they find, are key areas where the two countries can work together and possibly improve their relationship. 

"The expansion of the SCO to include India and Pakistan as full members has undoubtedly brought with it new opportunities and challenges," write Ahmed, Ahmed and Bhatnagar. "Both Pakistan and India hope...that SCO membership will help them gain a foothold in the energy-rich [Central Asian Republics] CARs and open a pathway to Eurasia. Further, the SCO may be able to generate the necessary interdependence between India and Pakistan to move towards normalization of relations." 

Read the full article, "Conflict or Cooperation: India and Pakistan in Shanghai Cooperation Organization," via Pacific Focus: Inha Journal of International Studies, here. 

This file or its source was published by Press Information Bureau on behalf of Prime Minister's Office, Government of India under the ID 107415 and CNR 98001 | Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India)