New Delhi: India declined to sign the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)’s Economic Development Strategy 2030 by raising objections over language that echoed Chinese official policies. Amid endorsement from the SCO India also did not become part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the virtual summit on the Eurasian regional group on Tuesday, following which 11 documents and decisions were adopted. These included the New Delhi Declaration and two thematic statements on digital transformation and deradicalisation.
Among the other outcomes was the SCO Economic Development Strategy for 2030, which according to Russia was among the approved decisions of the council of the heads of states.
The New Delhi Declaration mentioned the document with a unique phrasing by saying SCO leaders “consider it important to ensure the implementation of the SCO Economic Development Strategy 2030 adopted by interested Member States”.
By inserting the phrase “interested”, it was clear that the document had not got universal endorsement. India didn’t sign on with the rest of the SCO member states who approved the document.
India had largely given up as the final text of the document remained injected with too many references to Chinese diplomatic catchphrases and policies that reflected the pet policies of Chinese President Xi Jinping, like the Global Development Initiative.
Since the SCO Economic Development Strategy has not yet been made public, it is not clear what it entails. The New Delhi Declaration indicates that the strategy document could involve areas of “digital economy, high technology and innovation, modernisation of existing international routes for road and rail transport, multimodal transport corridors and logistics centres, finance and investment, energy and food security, reliable, resilient and diversified supply chains and industrial cooperation”.
As per Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public remarks, the “implementation of the SCO Economic Development Strategy to 2030 will further promote regional integration”.
A press release of the SCO secretariat dated March 2022 claimed that the “strategy will chart the main areas of investment, financial, trade and other forms of economic cooperation in the SCO region”.
Incidentally, another endorsement from the SCO that India is not part of is China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Every year, this is reflected by the absence of India in the list of countries that support China’s flagship connectivity project in the summit declaration. Some of India’s proposals also don’t seem to have been approved at the Summit.
Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tactfully assailed India over state-sponsored terrorism, as he advocated for peace and stability in the region as a collective responsibility of members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
In his remarks during the SCO Council of Heads of State Meeting, hosted by India in virtual format, the premier stressed that regional peace and stability were prerequisites for economic development.
