Astana was in the top ten. Practical achievements of the SCO summit

China and Europe may meet in Central Asia or at the SCO summit in Astana and the subsequent prospects of Tajikistan and the region as a whole.

And that in depth and breadth

After the creation of this regional organization, there was a discussion about its further development between the supporters of the policy variant “in depth” (moratorium on the admission of new members) and “in breadth” (admission of new members); the former began to prevail.

These advocates advocated that the admission of new members be delayed in order to further strengthen the internal ties of the new international organization. This policy lasted for 17 years (until 2018), when two large South Asian countries (India and Pakistan) became full members of this organization.

Now, after the strengthening of the SCO, supporters of the “broader” policy began to prevail, but the COVID-19 pandemic has become a serious obstacle to the admission of new members, which have long been part of the candidate countries (Iran, Belarus, etc.).

As the pandemic receded, inter-state relations revived and the authority of the inter-regional organization SCO grew, shedding its imposed name of “club of autocrats” after India’s entry as “the world’s largest democracy”.

It was India that had the good fortune to open a new period of admissions when Iran became the organization’s ninth full member in June last year.

The entry of Iran, one of the most key countries in the Middle East, shook the region, as a number of countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc.) began to pay close attention to the activities of this already inter-regional organization and received the status of “dialogue partners” countries.

Everyone expected another country to be accepted next year, when China, the organization’s leading country, will hold the presidency. However, the idea “Central Asia is the core of the SCO”, developed in the capitals of Central Asian countries, first tested at the Dushanbe summit (September 2021), began to materialize at the Astana summit.

In other words, before this summit, all key decisions within this authoritative organization were taken in the capitals of the leading countries of the organization (Beijing, Moscow or New Delhi). Now the acceptance of one of the countries of Eastern Europe (Belarus) in one of the capitals of Central Asia will mean a new period in activity – the equality of all countries (small and large) – members of the SCO.

Achievements of the SCO summit in Astana

By accepting Belarus, the SCO has not only moved closer to the borders of Europe, which claims the high title of the “democratic world”, but is itself developing democratic procedures. The “consensus” procedure that the SCO practices in its activities is, in our opinion, more democratic than “voting”, where a minority country like Hungary, no matter how much it tries to be trendy, is followed by the trail of a “malign rebel”, an unusual image of the democratic world.

In other words, the Eastern procedures and values, which ensure numerous negotiations before taking important decisions in order to converge positions (even polar ones) and develop decisions based on general consensus, have become more attractive than dividing the participating countries based on voting results.

A number of Arab countries are therefore beginning to reorient themselves towards the SCO.

Among the practical achievements of the last SCO summit is the adoption of the Astana Declaration, which addresses geopolitical turbulence in Eurasia and calls for an end to wars and crises and the achievement of peace and stability.

The external background of the summit in Astana was the state visit of the Chinese president to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, which marked China’s return to the region.

China’s establishment of a new-era comprehensive strategic partnership with almost all countries in the region can be seen as the Eastern giant’s final return to the region through its coveted “One Belt, One Road” mega-project.

Perhaps the West has begun to draw the correct conclusions from both ancient and modern history. When the most famous conqueror of the ancient world, Alexander the Great, came to us with a sword at his side, our ancestors strongly resisted him, but when the Chinese imperial envoy came after him with silk in his bosom, we began to trade. As a result, they gave the world the Great Silk Road.

In the modern era, the West wanted to impose its values ​​on the deeply traditional Afghan society and was dealt a blow. Instead of a “democratic paradise”, he eventually left behind a “terrorist hell”.

Now that China is rushing towards us from the East to boost transcontinental trade, the European Union is coming back from the West, this time with a creative idea with the “Global Gateway”. This creative idea will firmly connect Europe with China through Central Asia.

After the full involvement of Belarus in the activities of the SCO, there were premature cries of a confrontation between the SCO and NATO, which is illogical, since the SCO’s priority is its own sustainable development and its trading partners, i.e., among other things, the prosperous West.

Further more

In our opinion, the upcoming visit of the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Tajikistan in the second half of August will ensure the further success of the Astana SCO summit.

The fact is that if China rushes from the East through our region to the West (to Europe), and Europe is heading towards it through us, then all that remains is to strengthen the internal ties of the region according to the “North”. scheme “South” (or scheme “Astana-Amu Darya”).

Strengthening ties between the two countries, with Kazakhstan acting as the northern part of Central Asia and Tajikistan as the southern part, is in line with regional interests, as the region’s multilateral ties will ensure sustainable growth for all countries in the region.

Otherwise, the region claiming to be the “core of Central Asia” can only become a traffic junction for external players.

The two national leaders – Tajikistan and Kazakhstan – therefore need to ensure the transition of bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level in the upcoming negotiations. If in the past and in the present Kazakhstan acts as a reliable guarantor of food security in Tajikistan, which promptly provides a sufficient amount of grain (approx. 300-400 thousand tons per year), then Tajikistan has also been increasing the export of agricultural products to Kazakhstan in recent years.

However, Tajikistan, which in recent years has emphasized the implementation of the fourth national strategy – accelerated industrialization, also needs the active participation of Kazakhstan, which has clear achievements in mining and metallurgy.

The situation in the field of labor migration in Tajikistan also updates the manifestation of the leading role of Astana, which can double or triple the income of Tajik labor migrants in various areas of work activity.

Fraternal Kazakhstan ensured the protection of the key Darvaz direction of the Tajik-Afghan border during the years of civil confrontation. During these years and during the years of post-conflict reconstruction, he supplied us with much-needed grain.

Now that the two brotherly countries have moved to the path of sustainable development, the expansion of cooperation in the mining, metallurgical and processing industries, as well as a significant increase in the reception of Tajik labor migrants, would fulfill the national interests of both Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

Then Astana’s entry into the top ten at the SCO summit in June will have a logical continuation.

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