The SCO issued a joint communiqué, and eight countries signed to support the "Belt and Road" initiative, but India was once again absent.
The two-day Council of Heads of Government of the SCO Member States has finally come to an end in Islamabad. On the evening of October 16, member states issued a joint communiqué, covering both traditional areas of cooperation such as economy and trade, agriculture and energy, as well as emerging fields such as information security, e-commerce and digitalization.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
It can be seen that with the development of the times, the connotation of cooperation in the SCO has been constantly enriched and enhanced, and the SCO spirit of mutual trust and mutual benefit, consultation on an equal footing, respect for the diversity of civilizations and the pursuit of common development has always been upheld.
Judging from the content of the joint communiqué, the heads of delegations first recognized the work of Kazakhstan during its SCO presidency for 2023-2024, and considered the importance of the resolution adopted at the Astana summit in July this year.
I believe many people will wonder why the rotating chairman of the SCO is Kazakhstan, although the SCO meeting is obviously held in Pakistan. This is due to the fact that the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO Member States are two important meetings within the framework of the SCO, which are hosted by the SCO member states on a rotational basis.
After the end of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO Member States, which Kazakhstan hosted in July this year, China has taken over the rotating presidency of the SCO and will host next year's SCO Summit.
China has hosted several SCO summits
After Pakistan completes the current SCO Heads of Government Council, Russia will also "take over" and host the next SCO meeting.
There is no contradiction between these two events, and in the joint communiqué issued this time, the heads of delegations unanimously expressed their support for China's work as the new SCO chairman.
However, when all parties reaffirmed their support for China's Belt and Road Initiative, Russia, Belarus, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan all signed their signatures, except India, which was again absent and refused to co-sign.
The reason why I say "again" is because it is not the first time that India has spoken out in this way, such as at the SCO summit in July this year, it was also India that refused to express its support for the Belt and Road Initiative.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi
This also reflects India's "awkward" mentality, and India is very uncomfortable to see that China's cooperation initiative has been recognized and supported by more and more countries.
Although India is also benchmarking against China and is determined to build itself into a new "global manufacturing center", such ambitions also need to be supported by sufficient strength, otherwise everything is empty talk.
China has developed from a poor country to the current level, ranking as the world's largest manufacturing country and the world's second largest economy, all by relying on its own strength.
If India wants to achieve its development goals, especially in the manufacturing sector, it should be humble and learn from China's successful experience, rather than rest on its laurels and rudely exclude Chinese goods from the India market.
In the SCO Joint Communique, there is a sentence that is very worthy of listening to by the Indian side, that is, the member states stand for respecting the right of the people of all countries to independently choose their own development path, and emphasize mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, equality and mutual benefit, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar attended the SCO meeting
These principles are the basis for ensuring the sustainable development of diplomatic relations between countries and the prerequisite for deepening cooperation between countries. Although India Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend the meeting, India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, who attended on his behalf, should keep this principle in mind and apply it to the practice of international relations to ensure stable and harmonious relations with neighboring countries.