The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit will be held in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, on Thursday and Friday to discuss, among other things, what role the organization should play in addressing the Afghanistan issue.
The neighboring countries, which have borne the brunt of the spillover effects of the US’ war in Afghanistan, have to coordinate their policies and work together to help stabilize the situation in the region.
As the SCO is a multilateral organization whose primary goal is to combat terrorism and safeguard regional security, it has to weigh its regional responsibilities and the role it should play now that the US has withdrawn from Afghanistan and the Taliban have returned to power, according to an article published by China Daily.
The SCO comprises eight members – China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and four observer countries such as Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.
The SCO member states include Afghanistan’s close neighbors Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan, and major countries in the region such as China, India, and Russia.
And since these countries are deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, the SCO is expected to seek to promote political reconciliation in the country through multilateral negotiation.
In July, the foreign ministers of the SCO member states issued a joint announcement saying they will “continue to assist the Afghan people in their efforts to rebuild their country”, and are keen on “making the country peaceful, stable and prosperous”.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the US and its allies have the responsibility to provide economic and humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, and asserted that China supports an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” reconciliation framework and called on neighboring states to help improve the situation in the country.
In view of the complicated situation in the region, the SCO should play a constructive role in at least some aspects. First, the SCO should continue combating terrorism and maintaining regional stability, while making greater efforts to address the security issues in and around Afghanistan and using conflict-prevention mechanisms to ensure regional security.
Since the SCO has made safeguarding regional security one of its top priorities, it should further strengthen its anti-terrorism structure, in order to better combat terrorism, separatism and extremism in the region.
Second, the SCO should use its advantages as a multilateral organization to establish an integrated mechanism promoting interaction between Afghanistan and key neighboring countries to help the Afghan people in their efforts to restore peace and stability, and rebuild the country.
The SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, established in 2005, could play a valuable role in this respect. There is also a need to include Afghanistan in multilateral cooperation mechanism under the SCO framework as a contributing country.
Third, together with the international community, the SCO should provide economic assistance for Afghanistan, so as to facilitate its economic development. On Sept 9, China announced 200 million yuan ($30.96 million) worth of humanitarian aid, including grain, winter supplies, vaccines and medicines, for Afghanistan.
