July 4—The 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit concluded its one-day video-conference meeting on July 4 under Indian chairmanship, with the participation of Narendra Modi of India, Xi Jinping of China, and Vladimir Putin of Russia, as well as the leaders of Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. A ninth member was admitted to the SCO at the meeting: Iran.
Reflecting some of the growing tensions in the region and the world, the final New Delhi Declaration denounces that “existing conflicts are aggravating and new conflicts are emerging,” and calls for the “formation of a common vision of the idea of creating a community of the common destiny of humanity.” The Declaration denounces international terrorism and drug trafficking, rejects as a violation of international law the use of unilateral economic sanctions that have not been approved by the UN Security Council, calls for support of Afghanistan’s right to develop, and forcefully restates the principle of indivisible security:
“The Member States reiterate that unilateral and unlimited expansion of global missile defense systems by certain countries or groups of countries has a negative impact on the international security and stability. They consider unacceptable attempts to ensure their own security at the expense of the security of other States.”
Although the New Delhi Declaration is more focused on security issues than on economic policy, it does note that the SCO members “spoke in favor of implementing the [SCO] Roadmap for gradual increase in the share of national currencies in mutual settlements by the interested Member States.” On the Belt and Road Initiative, the Declaration reports: “Reaffirming their support for China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) initiative, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan and Republic of Uzbekistan note the ongoing work to jointly implement this project, including efforts to link the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and BRI.” In other words, all of the members of the SCO endorsed that formulation, except for India—not really surprising, since India has never backed the BRI.
