Analysis: Can SCO speak with one voice in Sochi after expansion?

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Sochi, a Russian Black Sea resort known as the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, will witness another major international event later this week, as leaders of China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Central Asian countries gather for the 16th Meeting of the Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of Government (Prime Ministers).

It will be the first meeting of SCO heads of government after the bloc's expansion in June. With the admission of India and Pakistan as its full members, the SCO became the world's most populous regional cooperative organization and the largest by area.

"China supports the SCO in speaking with one voice on international and regional issues," Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the SCO Astana summit this summer.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presides over the 14th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, December 15, 2015. /Xinhua Photo

But will the eight member states – with their complex relations and different priorities – find more common ground and send a signal of unity at the winter gathering?

China expects breakthroughs in B&R cooperation

The SCO Heads of Government Council meets once a year to discuss the organization's multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas, to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues, and also to approve the organization's annual budget.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will attend the Sochi meeting from Thursday to Friday. China, currently holding the rotating presidency of the SCO, looks forward to more cooperation among the member states on the construction of the Belt and Road – an initiative proposed by Xi in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes.

The Chinese premier is expected to seek "new consensus on enhancing the integration of development strategies, connectivity, production capacity cooperation, people-to-people and cultural exchanges and other fields" among the SCO members in Sochi, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai said at a press briefing last week.

Nevertheless, it is not an easy task to synergize development strategies of the eight countries – vastly different in size, population and economic power, as well as their understanding of some border issues.

India, an arch rival of Pakistan, did not take part in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in May, despite calls by some Indian scholars for the country to embrace the initiative.

Then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrives in Chinese capital Beijing, May 12, 2017, to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. /Xinhua Photo

"Isolation does not help India," Sudheendra Kulkarni, chairman of Observer Research Foundation (ORF) Mumbai, said at a seminar in April, urging New Delhi to "welcome and support" the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the country's own interests.

A report released in early June predicted India might endorse the China-proposed initiative after joining the SCO alongside Pakistan.

However, Chinese and Indian troops were engaged in a military standoff in the border region of Dong Lang (Doklam) from mid-June to late August, bringing the bilateral relations to a low point.

Three months after the tension was resolved peacefully, interactions between the two countries at the SCO meeting and India's attitude to the Belt and Road Initiative will be closely watched.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C) presides over the 14th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, December 15, 2015. /Xinhua Photo

Beijing, Moscow set example for win-win cooperation

In Sochi, Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will meet for the second time in November, after their talks in Beijing at the start of the month for the 22nd China-Russia Prime Ministers' Regular Meeting.

The robust development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is exemplified by high-level exchanges like these. In 2017, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin already met five times, most recently when the pair attended the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Vietnam on November 10.

At the APEC meeting, Xi told Putin that the China-Russia partnership has set a good example for a new type of international relations that highlights mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam, November 10, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

Except pushing forward the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese premier will elaborate on Beijing's major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the New Era and its significance to China's relations with the SCO member states, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Chinese leaders have made it clear that such diplomacy aims to foster a new type of international relations and build a community with a shared future for the mankind.

Guided by these principles, Beijing and Moscow have strengthened mutual trust and deepened cooperation in various areas. The two sides will continue their efforts to achieve substantial results from the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative and development programs within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) led by Russia, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L3), leaders of other Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states and prime ministers of India and Pakistan pose for a group photo during the 17th meeting of Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 9, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

He added that China and Russia will work to implement the project of an international transportation corridor in the Far East and jointly explore the Arctic shipping route to make it a "silk road on ice."

"I believe as long as we keep up with the times and seize the opportunities, China-Russia relations will be very productive," he said.

Will the productive cooperation between China and Russia – both are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and important parties of the G20, BRICS and the SCO – inspire other SCO members to make stronger efforts to narrow their differences and pursue common development?

It is a big challenge, but also an opportunity to build the bloc into a role model of inclusive international cooperation, which benefits all people in the region regardless of their differences.

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