Energy and Security Top Agenda at Shanghai Summit
Energy and Security Top Agenda at Shanghai Summit
A one-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation may herald a more active approach the start of more active economic projects, including the formation of a regional “energy club”, say NBCentralAsia observers.
The summit, the seventh the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO, has held, took place in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and saw the signing of two major documents – a treaty of long-term good-neighbourly relations, friendship and cooperation, and a declaration by SCO heads of state. In addition to the now traditional matters of defence security and combating drug and human trafficking, the two agreements also focused on the energy security of both member states and observer countries.
A joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting said economic cooperation between SCO members should now become a practical reality, and that they should focus on energy, the joint Business Council and the SCO Inter-Bank Association.
SCO was set up in 2001 as a formalised structure of the Shanghai Five grouping – Russia, China, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – plus an additional member, Uzbekistan.
Pakistan, Iran, India and Mongolia have observer status in the grouping, and Afghanistan is seeking to do the same.
Apart from the six heads of state and representatives from the observer countries, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov of Turkmenistan, Afghan president Hamed Karzai, and United Nations Under-Secretary General Lynn Pascoe attended the Bishkek event as guests.
At the summit. Kazak president Nursultan Nazarbaev stressed that the organisation was open to working with the observer countries on energy issues.
In June, Kazakstan proposed a draft Asian Energy Strategy, envisaging a sustainable balance between SCO energy producers and consumers. The proposal is founded on the idea that demand among SCO members is roughly equivalent to the resources available to them, and there are no barriers to supply since transit routes would not pass through the territory of non-members.
NBCentraAsia analysts say the summit demonstrated the SCO’s growing focus on energy security and economic cooperation, although regional security still remains a high priority.
Saifullo Safarov, an expert at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tajikistan, said the regional group is beginning to position itself as a economic rather than a defence association.
“The economic component will become the main one after this summit,” said Safarov. “Economics is always a difficult part of any programme, so defence matters always look more proactive.”
Before the Bishkek summit, many political analysts were predicting that the SCO would become substantially more defence-oriented so as to act as a counterweight to NATO. They also spoke of a rise in anti-American sentiment within the grouping.
Sergei Slepchenko, an expert with the Perspectiva think-tank, says these forecasts have not proved accurate.
“Many people would like to see SCO as a militarised structure, but the key task facing its member states today is how to resolve their social and economic problems,” he said.
However, there are some NBCentralAsia analysts who believe defence will become an increasingly important part of the SCO’s existence, and may one day dominate.
“I think the military aspect will prevail,” said Eduard Poletaev, a Kazakstan-based political analyst. “While one cannot discount the economic projects the SCO is planning, they are likely to receive little attention.”
Tajik political analyst Abdughani Mamadazimov agrees with this view, noting that as the SCO gains in strength as a regional grouping, it will be an increasing cause of concern for other security groupings.
“An strengthening of this regional organisation will lead to a confrontation with major western organisations such as NATO and the European Union. This confrontation will intensify year by year,” he said.
As the summit was under way in Bishkek, forces from SCO states were taking part in a joint exercise called Peace Mission-2007, held in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. SCO heads of state are due to observe the exercise on August 17.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
The summit, the seventh the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO, has held, took place in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and saw the signing of two major documents – a treaty of long-term good-neighbourly relations, friendship and cooperation, and a declaration by SCO heads of state. In addition to the now traditional matters of defence security and combating drug and human trafficking, the two agreements also focused on the energy security of both member states and observer countries.
A joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting said economic cooperation between SCO members should now become a practical reality, and that they should focus on energy, the joint Business Council and the SCO Inter-Bank Association.
SCO was set up in 2001 as a formalised structure of the Shanghai Five grouping – Russia, China, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – plus an additional member, Uzbekistan.
Pakistan, Iran, India and Mongolia have observer status in the grouping, and Afghanistan is seeking to do the same.
Apart from the six heads of state and representatives from the observer countries, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov of Turkmenistan, Afghan president Hamed Karzai, and United Nations Under-Secretary General Lynn Pascoe attended the Bishkek event as guests.
At the summit. Kazak president Nursultan Nazarbaev stressed that the organisation was open to working with the observer countries on energy issues.
In June, Kazakstan proposed a draft Asian Energy Strategy, envisaging a sustainable balance between SCO energy producers and consumers. The proposal is founded on the idea that demand among SCO members is roughly equivalent to the resources available to them, and there are no barriers to supply since transit routes would not pass through the territory of non-members.
NBCentraAsia analysts say the summit demonstrated the SCO’s growing focus on energy security and economic cooperation, although regional security still remains a high priority.
Saifullo Safarov, an expert at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tajikistan, said the regional group is beginning to position itself as a economic rather than a defence association.
“The economic component will become the main one after this summit,” said Safarov. “Economics is always a difficult part of any programme, so defence matters always look more proactive.”
Before the Bishkek summit, many political analysts were predicting that the SCO would become substantially more defence-oriented so as to act as a counterweight to NATO. They also spoke of a rise in anti-American sentiment within the grouping.
Sergei Slepchenko, an expert with the Perspectiva think-tank, says these forecasts have not proved accurate.
“Many people would like to see SCO as a militarised structure, but the key task facing its member states today is how to resolve their social and economic problems,” he said.
However, there are some NBCentralAsia analysts who believe defence will become an increasingly important part of the SCO’s existence, and may one day dominate.
“I think the military aspect will prevail,” said Eduard Poletaev, a Kazakstan-based political analyst. “While one cannot discount the economic projects the SCO is planning, they are likely to receive little attention.”
Tajik political analyst Abdughani Mamadazimov agrees with this view, noting that as the SCO gains in strength as a regional grouping, it will be an increasing cause of concern for other security groupings.
“An strengthening of this regional organisation will lead to a confrontation with major western organisations such as NATO and the European Union. This confrontation will intensify year by year,” he said.
As the summit was under way in Bishkek, forces from SCO states were taking part in a joint exercise called Peace Mission-2007, held in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. SCO heads of state are due to observe the exercise on August 17.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
