SCO ministerial meeting highly anticipated due to the ongoing geopolitical turbulence in the region, expert

Executive Director of the Eurasian International Studies Association Kairat Batyrbaev and orientalist, expert on China Adil Kaukenov shared expert opinions with Kazinform News Agency on what can be expected from the meeting.

According to Kaukenov, the SCO occupies an important part in the political life of the participating countries.

“This is a very significant organization, but the most important thing is that it is a dialogue platform that allows for what is called a “synchronization of watches” at a variety of levels, from the level of presidents to the business level and so on. The meeting of foreign ministers is once again an opportunity for the leading, fundamental states of Asia to meet, talk and develop some common approaches,” says expert.

He notes that in Asia today there are more problems and a lot of risks than ever before.

“Organizations such as the SCO make it possible to relieve this degree of tension and, on the contrary, make Asia even safer than, for example, in Europe, in the eastern part of which one of these serious conflicts is currently raging,” notes Kaukenov.

The expert explains that this meeting is not revolutionary.

“This meeting is quite planned and on schedule. There are unlikely to be any unexpected accomplishments here. Usually some big, fundamental changes within the SCO take place at meetings of presidents. Ministerial meetings are, after all, more of a working meeting, at which not so much the strategy is worked out, but the tactics of the decisions and agreements made by the presidents,” adds expert.

When asked what kind of agreements can be expected, the expert replied that the main attention will be paid not to specific agreements, but to internal procedural documents. These documents are of little importance for the average person, but are extremely important for the work of diplomats and foreign policy departments.

Kaukenov noted that despite the tragic loss of its leader and foreign minister, Iran demonstrates a high level of continuity and stability due to the large number of reserves in the top elite. In his opinion, although this is a serious shock for the country, no significant changes or revision of its foreign policy, including its attitude towards the SCO, are expected.

“We need to understand that people participate in the SCO at their own discretion. In an organization there is such a thing as the principle of consent, that is, all parties when making a decision must agree. This makes the SCO more stable. Thus, in no case should we expect any drastic changes from the SCO, any revolutionary statements, and so on,” the expert added.

According to Batyrbayev, the meeting of the foreign ministers of the SCO member states is highly anticipated due to the ongoing geopolitical turbulence and recent events in the region. These include the death of the President of Iran; an incident in Bishkek that affected students from India and Pakistan; and Putin's recent visit to China.

The main topics of discussion will be candidates for the post of new Secretary General and Director of the RATS Executive Committee of this organization, the situation in Afghanistan, as well as preparations for the SCO summit in July this year in Astana, where Belarus will have full membership,” notes executive director of the Eurasian International Studies Association.

He added that this meeting will give impetus to further cooperation between the SCO member states and will allow them to “synchronize watches” on current international issues.

According to the expert, documents aimed at further strengthening cooperation in the SCO in the fields of politics, security, economics and culture will be reviewed and signed at the meeting.

“The tragic death of the President and Foreign Minister of Iran will definitely make adjustments to the agenda of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the SCO member countries. Probably, the participants will express condolences to the Iranian side and offer assistance in solving certain problems,” says Batyrbayev.

The expert also notes that Iran is an important player in the Middle East, on which the stability of the situation in this region in the context of regional security largely depends. Therefore, the SCO states are interested in preventing an escalation of the situation in one of its member countries and, according to the expert, will probably hold diplomatic consultations on this topic.