Welcome accent on importance of UN at SCO Summit (where Sri Lanka didn’t attend)
Sections of the international media have been obsessively focused on the seemingly unusual bonhomie in the interactions among Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) in Tianjin but this amounts to leaving out some of the more important achievements of the meet. To be sure, the more casual meetings among these leaders were marked by a notable degree of cordiality but more vital were their shared perceptions on questions such as the management of international tensions by the world community and the future role of the UN in this task.
The leaders in question and the SCO as a whole could gain considerable satisfaction from the fact that there was broad agreement among the member states of the grouping at the summit on the ‘terror’ conundrum. They arrived at agreements on the question which were not controversial from their viewpoint and this was no mean achievement considering some of the most recent tensions in India-Pakistan ties in particular which brought the countries to almost the brink of all-out war.
For example, the final declaration of the Summit had this to say about ‘terror’, besides elaborating on linked matters as well: ‘The Member States strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, stress that double standards in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable, and call on the international community to combat terrorism, including cross-border movement of terrorists.’
The SCO is a prominent international forum of the Eastern hemisphere and definitions of ‘terror’ such as the above could be said to have solidified the unity of the East. It would have the effect of further catalyzing consensuality among the key states: India, China and Russia; which collectivity of major powers could now be seen as a counter-balance to the international influence and power wielded by the US.
Seen in conjunction with the continuing bloodshed in the Gaza in particular the mentioned Eastern agreement on ‘terror’ could be doubly important. There are virtually no international constraints on Israel as it goes on with its war of aggression in the Middle East, and this ought to be of profound concern to the world.
As could be seen, the US is giving Israel a ‘free hand’ as it were to perpetuate its expansionist war in the region, considering that it is aiming at annexing the Gaza by emptying it of its inhabitants. Now is the time to counter-balance the power of the US-Israel combine and it’s hoped that the coming together of India, China and Russia would help in this power-balancing process to some extent.
While there is no question of the mentioned Eastern powers getting on to a confrontational course with the US on matters growing out of the Gaza blood-letting or of excessively empathizing with the Palestinians, they could use their influence to turn international opinion against the US-Israel duo more substantially. They could help in no small measure in solidifying Southern opinion against Israeli atrocities in the Gaza. Right now, such efforts could prove important in changing the course of Israeli aggression.
While the US’ tariff wars with the rest of the world have brought the mentioned major Eastern powers closer as allies of sorts they could use the moment to trammel US power and influence-wielding internationally. It would not be far-fetched to visualize them using their collective might to not only further their economic interests by working unitedly on the tariff war front but by also using forums such as BRICS to alleviate the burdens of poorer countries facing the same negative fallout from the tariff turmoil.
The countries of the South, however, while relating to the non-democratic, authoritarian powers of the BRICS grouping cordially and pragmatically with their best interests in mind, would need to ensure that they do not come under the diktat of these big powers. Here’s where they would need to fine-hone their diplomatic skills and put them to good use.
Meanwhile, it is also of the utmost importance that the SCO declaration has made significant mention of the UN and underscored its continuing relevance in international politics. Speaking of the Israeli and US military strikes against Iran’s nuclear energy infrastructure in June, the declaration said that such ‘aggressive actions’ are, among other things, ‘a gross violation of the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter..’ There couldn’t be a stronger and clearer endorsement of the UN system by the major powers of the East in the current juncture in international politics and amid the gathering perception worldwide that the UN is helpless and ineffective in the face of global lawlessness and disorder.
Needless to say, the world would be a far more ‘dangerous place’ if the UN is treated dismissively by the world community and overlooked as useless. While the UN system has been crying out for reform and ‘restructuring’ there is no doubt that it has helped in reining in, although in relative silence, the destructive urges of the human to some measure. The fact that no member state ever leaves the UN, whatever the criticisms leveled against the system, proves that the UN is continuing to be seen as vital to their existence by the majority of states.
Now that some major authoritarian powers of the East have acknowledged the importance of the UN, they should see it as obligatory on their part to abide by the system’s Charter which is the veritable fountainhead of International Law. These states should not only abide by the Charter in word and deed but also help in strengthening and sustaining the UN. They would be guilty of gross hypocrisy and double talk if they do not do so.
This opportunity should be made use of by the West to enter into a close dialogue with the East on ways to reform the UN system and render it more effective. Presuming that the relevant powers of the East are in earnest in their references to the UN, their assistance should be made use of by the democratic and UN-reform inclined sections of the international community to revamp the world body and render its central organs, such as the Security Council, increasingly representative of all significant sections of the world.
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