Daily Times

Pakistan, as a country being torn apart by issues of civil unrest, war, corruption and bad leadership, has finally mustered the will to seek real solutions to these decades-old problems. In this vein, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s participation in the latest meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held in St Petersburg gains new significance. At the moment, Pakistan has observer status in the SCO. However, it seems that this is going to change to that of a full partner given the endorsement of its membership request from one of the founding members of the organisation, i.e. Russia. Moscow has de-linked the Pakistani request for inclusion from that of India. Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani forwarded a five-point development agenda that highlighted the importance of improving trade by setting up a free-trade zone, cooperation for energy development, improving and adding to existing infrastructure, resource sharing and relaxation of visa regimes for diplomats, officials and businessmen.

The government hopes that by pursuing this course it will be able to kill the proverbial ‘two birds with one stone’. Up until recently Pakistan has been considered as merely a client state of the US. A realignment with regional powers will not just serve to provide the Pakistani state with much needed legitimacy, both locally and globally, but also provide it access to cheaper resources. With an energy crisis snapping at its heels and a fast dissolving industrial base, the country is desperate for an influx of not just development funds but also inclusion in world and regional markets and economic cooperation. Such cooperation will also ensure the building of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) oil pipeline, a project currently proceeding slowly due to the hostility of the US to any country’s cooperation with Iran. Better relations with Central Asian States such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan could prove to be exactly what Pakistan is looking for since the region is rich in energy reserves; so rich in fact that the US also wants to make inroads into the region. Of late the US has been pushing for the building of a ‘New Silk Route’ project aimed to ensure access to the Central Asian region for precisely the purpose of accessing its vast energy reserves. However, given the working cooperation formed between the Central Asian States, China and Russia, these efforts have met with little appreciable success.

Pakistan’s inclusion in this working cooperation will not just be of benefit to it but also of enormous importance to both China and Russia. Currently, China’s efforts are directed towards the formalisation of an efficient economic partnership while Russia has aims of improving the security situation in the region in the wake of the war on terror. In addition, both China and Russia will reap enormous benefits from access to port facilities such as those offered by Karachi and Gwadar. At present, both Russia and China have limited access to these southern trade routes, especially ports.

It is important to mention that while there is potential for tremendous rewards for all parties, it is imperative that the SCO capacity be dispassionately understood. Unless all parties work towards building this regional capacity and ensuring smooth and committed functioning, including the political will and collective means of implementation of plans, all these rewards will only remain pipedreams.*