Iran has recently decided to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at its 23rd leaders’ summit which was hosted virtually by India as the reigning chairman of the grouping. Iran’s inclusion is ready to give the West Asian nation more breathing room as it looks to break out of its diplomatic isolation after the collapse of its nuclear agreement with the US. China and Russia, the two remaining SCO members, have also been keen to build closer ties with countries that are not aligned with Western powers.
Belarus, in close alliance with Russia, also moved closer to securing membership. India’s foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra stated that the country will be admitted to the body during next year’s summit. China, for its part, proposed the creation of an SCO development bank during the summit.“ China proposes that the SCO scale up local currency settlement between member states, expand cooperation on sovereign digital currency, and promote the establishment of an SCO development bank,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping. China has pushed for settling trade in national currencies was backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
India has also restated its concerns over the rampant continuation of cross-border terrorism. “Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policies, provide shelter to terrorists. SCO should not hesitate to criticize such nations. There should be no place for double standards on such serious matters,” the Prime Minister added. Apart from that, the SCO’s connectivity agenda may also get a boost from Iran’s entry. Modi further asked for the use of Chabahar Port in Iran to boost trade and connectivity between India and Central Asia.
