PANAJI (AP) – Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) criticized on Friday the ability of world institutions to resolve geopolitical problems, including the coronavirus pandemic, and said their organization should do more to address such challenges.
Indian Foreign Minister Subhramanyam Jaishankar said in remarks at a meeting of the SCO that the crises have disrupted global supply chains and have hit developing nations the hardest.
They have “exposed a credibility and trust deficit in the ability of global institutions to manage challenges in a timely and efficient manner,” he said, adding that alternative organizations like the SCO can help address such challenges.
“With more than 40% of the world’s population within the SCO, our collective decisions will surely have a global impact,” he said.
Russia and China founded the SCO in 2001 as a counterweight to U.S. alliances across East Asia to the Indian Ocean. The group includes the four Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which Russia considers its backyard. In 2017, India and Pakistan became members, and Iran and Belarus are set to join later this year.
Russia and China have sought to reduce the dominance of U.S. and Western-led global institutions and alliances, and China accuses Washington of attempting to contain its economic and military rise.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told the foreign ministers that “the world is faced with multiple crises and challenges featuring a resurgence of the Cold War mentality, headwinds of unilateral protectionism, as well as rising hegemonism and power politics,” China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.
“SCO members should support each other in safeguarding sovereignty, security and development interests, and oppose external forces interfering in regional issues,” he said.
At a briefing after the meeting, Jaishankar dismissed questions about whether the SCO is anti-Western, saying, “how people perceive it is something I cannot answer for.” Instead, he stressed India’s “multidirectional foreign policy” and said “it’s not always possible that all our partners get along with other partners.”
The visit by Pakistan’s foreign minister to archrival India to attend the meeting was the first by a high-ranking Pakistani official in nearly a decade.
“Let’s not get caught up in weaponizing terrorism for diplomatic point scoring,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in his opening remarks.
Despite speculation, India and Pakistan did not hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the meeting.
Beijing is also trying to present itself as a global diplomatic force and has said it is willing to serve as a mediator in the war.
Last month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Beijing will send an envoy to Ukraine to discuss a possible political settlement.