Nabila Jaffer
Ms. Nabila Jaffer is Research Analyst at Institute of Regional Studies.
DOI: http://DOI Number
Keywords: SCO, terrorism, extremism, CARs, India, Pakistan, commitment, security, Afghanistan
Abstract
After 14 years of forming SCO, on July 10, 2015, during the 15th summit in Ufa, Russia, the organisation made the historic announcement of its first and long-awaited enlargement. India and Pakistan were formally admitted as members, and Belarus was raised from dialogue partner to observer status. Along with Turkey and Sri Lanka, it also recruited Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, and Nepal as conversation partners.Russia was eager to admit India and China was advocating for Pakistan’s admission during the lengthy process of admitting new members. With the announcement of expansion at the 15th SCO summit, as well as a commitment to greater economic cooperation and a resolve for closer coordination in security, the level of SCO cooperation is poised to reach new heights. For this reason, the purpose of this research is to examine the long-term effects of the SCO’s expansion into South Asia. How this enlargement can boost the global outreach of the SCO and how it is perceived in the global context will be discussed in this paper.. It also examines the implications of SCO enlargement in regional context by focusing on what potential opportunities and challenges new members would bring to the organization in the context of adverse bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. Another important aspect of the paper is to examine how the new expansion of SCO is relevant to the stability in Afghanistan in the wake of the drawdown of US forces from the country.
First Published
March 25, 2016
How to Cite
Nabila Jaffer, “The First Enlargement of Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its Implications,” Regional Studies 34, no.2 (Spring 2016): 65-93, https://regionalstudies.com.pk/wp/article/the-first-enlargement-of-shanghai-cooperation-organization-and-its-implications/
Issue
Volume 34, Issue 2