The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation is a Russo-Chinese led power bloc which was founded in 2001.
The SCO emcompasses most of the old Soviet Republics and China. As its website states
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation proclaimed in Shanghai on June 15, 2001 by six countries – People’s Republic of China, Russian Federation, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Tajikistan and Republic of Uzbekistan.
The main purposes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are: strengthening mutual trust and good-neighborly relations among member states; promoting their effective cooperation in political affairs, economy and trade, scientific-technical, cultural, and educational spheres as well as in energy, transportation, tourism, and environment protection fields; joint safeguarding and presenting regional peace, security and stability; striving towards creation of democratic, just, reasonable new international political and economic order.
The total area occupied by the SCO member states is about 30 million 189 thousand square kilometres, or about three fifth the territory of Eurasia, with a population of 1.455 billion people, or about a quarter of total population of the world.
While virtually ignored by the MSM, the Communist press regards the SCO as a hugely important organisation. It is seen as a means of re-aligning power away from the USA and the West in favour of the East and the Communist/Muslim world.
Here is an article on the SCO from the latest edition of the Communist Party of Auistralia’s Guardian, with some commentary by myself.
Significance of India, Russia, China cooperation
“The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries are going to be the new powerhouse of the world. It is in India’s enlightened interest that we understand its importance as we are a country which desperately needs energy“, CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat says in a statement this month. “Trilateral co-operation between India, China and Russia has symbolic significance as it can dispel the notion that the 21st century is an American century.”
New Zeal As the head of the Communist Party of India(Marxist), Prakash Karat is a hugely influential figure. The CPI(M) controls several state governments and has a strong bloc in the Indian Parliament as does the “rival” Communist Party of India.
The recent meeting between India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese Premier Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G-8 summit held tremendous potential in the changing world situation. Karat was delivering a talk on the “Role of friendship societies in Indo-Russian relations“.
Karat said the 21st century was not going to be an American century. “This will be an Asian century. Two countries, India and China, are to power Asia through their economic growth and political clout. Though a unipolar world appeared to emerge after the fall of the Soviet Union, current trends hint at a transition towards a multi-polar world which would be more balanced and equitable and with less scope for hegemony“, Karat said.
Besides Asia, new power centres were developing in Europe, Latin America and Africa much to the “dismay” of United States.
Emerging co-operation among India, Brazil and South Africa, which are important countries in the developing world, would [also] promote multi-polarity in the world.
New Zeal South Africa’s Communist Party dominated government has been very active in promoting ties with Marxist led Brazil and heavily Marxist influenced India. South African deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Azziz Pahad, brother of leading SACP member and advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, Essop Pahad has been particularly active in promoting ties to India.
Stating that energy was going to be a major issue in the 21st century, he said Russia’s energy diplomacy had signalled that it would be assertive in the new situation.
The six-member SCO comprising Russia, China and central Asian republics, would have an increasing role in world affairs.
Karat urged the Indian Government to understand the importance of the SCO in which India, along with Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, were observers.
“If the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline became a reality, the country would get gas at one-quarter of its price in the international market. Russia was now co-operating with Iran, and India should use its ties with Russia to play an increasing role in central Asia“, Karat said.
He said the present world situation underlined the need to maintain, nurture and strengthen India’s ties with Russia. In the earlier period of the Soviet Union, India had been greatly influenced by the first socialist experiment.
“Promotion of people-to-people relations was also important while developing strategic relations with countries like China and Russia and developing nations“, Karat said.
New Zeal How would the West deal with a power bloc spanning Asia from Vladivostok to Kiev and from the Arctic circle to Southern India? Combine that with an alliance between nuclear capable, or near capable India, South Afica and Brazil, allied in turn to oil rich Venezuela and Iran and you start to see a potential problem.
Thank God NZ lives in a “benign strategic environment”.
