Russia is still accepted among the eight SCO member states. This is the most important high-level meeting without the presence of Western countries.

Welcome guest in Goa: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) Photo: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Reuters

MUMBAI/BERLIN taz | There are not many countries left that have welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with open arms since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. However, the guest list of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting, taking place since Thursday in Goa, western India, shows a different picture: Russia is still a welcome partner for India and the rest of the SCO. states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China. Iran and Belarus will be added soon.

Apart from the G20, the most important group of industrialized and developing countries, India also currently chairs the SCO. This is the most famous conversation format in the absence of Western powers.

Although the SCO, based in Beijing, does not have as much global relevance as the G20, it still has a direct impact on security and the economy in Asia. Its eight members represent 43 percent of the world’s population and a quarter of the world’s national product. And considering the bilateral tensions between India and China as well as India and Pakistan, meetings between representatives of these countries have become a political issue.

China hopes to gain more diplomatic influence in Eurasia through the SCO, founded in 2001, in which China plays a leading role. For India, the People’s Republic of China is an important partner, but also a geostrategic competitor and difficult neighbor with whom it has territorial disputes.

Increasing dictatorship

Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s recent visit was the first by the head of the foreign office from Islamabad to India in almost twelve years. “My decision to attend this meeting shows Pakistan’s strong commitment to the SCO Charter,” Bhutto wrote on Twitter.

Like Pakistan, India only joined the SCO in 2017. Delhi too senses its opportunity to gain greater influence. Since Russia’s war in Ukraine, India has become more important geopolitically for the West as it maintains active exchanges with both sides. However, India has been criticized by Western countries for its neutrality towards Russia and its expansion of oil imports from there.

At the start of the two-day meeting, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar received SCO Chinese Secretary General Zhang Ming. During his tenure, Delhi will focus on start-ups, traditional medicine, Buddhist heritage, and science and technology, Jaishankar said.

He also spoke bilaterally with his counterparts from China, Russia and Uzbekistan. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang arrives from Myanmar. There he met Ming junta leader Aung Hlaing for the first time on Tuesday in the capital Naypyitaw. In doing so, he supported the dictator who came to power in February 2021, whom no Chinese minister had ever met before.

Officially, regarding the implementation of the agreement to increase cooperation that President Xi Jinping made in 2020 with the then ousted government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Even though Qin now supports Myanmar’s dictator, there must be continuity between the two neighboring countries. The junta made a positive impression during Qin’s visit by releasing more than 2,100 political prisoners. However, the majority are people whose prison sentences have ended.