Trust deficit hurts SCO economic ties, India says

October 17, 2024 (MLN): Lack of trust among member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is damaging economic and trade ties, Bloomberg reported India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as saying.

Trade, transit, “energy flows” and collaboration are dependent on good “neighborliness,” Jaishankar said Wednesday at a meeting with SCO nations in Islamabad.

The SCO — a China-led Eurasian grouping — includes Russia, Pakistan and Central Asian countries. The organization aims to increase political, economic, and defense partnerships in the region.

In a clear reference to India’s poor relationships with China and Pakistan, Jaishankar called for “mutual respect and sovereign equality” in the SCO — and denounced support for “separatism” and “extremism.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also appealed for harmony, urging nations to “prioritize collaboration over political differences.”

Ties between India and China have frayed since 2020, when troops fought along a shared border in the worst-ever skirmish in four decades.

Both sides have deployed thousands of soldiers along a 3,488 Kilometer (2,167 miles) Himalayan boundary. In retaliation, India has shunned Chinese investments and companies.

Jaishankar’s trip to Islamabad marked the first time in nearly a decade that an Indian foreign minister has traveled to Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped the summit.

“If friendship has fallen short and good neighborliness is missing somewhere, there are surely reasons to introspect and causes to address,” Jaishankar said.

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