A new stage in the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the context of the settlement of the Afghan problem

Abstract

The article examines new trends in the development of the SCO after its expansion at the expense of India and Pakistan in 2018. The expansion of the SCO means a significant increase in the political and economic weight of the Organization. The authors analyze the activities of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group in the settlement of the Afghan crisis at the present stage. If previously Afghanistan could be viewed more as an external factor of Central Asian security, now the settlement of the situation in this country is especially relevant for the further work of the SCO. The article shows that the issues of regional security in Central Asia do not lose their importance. The authors of this article make a comparative analysis of the activities of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group and the Moscow and Tashkent formats of the talks on the settlement of the Afghan issue at the present stage. The authors come to the conclusion that the SCO has limited capacity in resolving the Afghan crisis due to the activity in this process by the United States, which signed a peace agreement with the Taliban on February 29, 2020, on the timing of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. However, for a number of reasons, neither the United States nor the Taliban are going to fulfill the terms of the agreement, which in fact excludes a large-scale launch of an inter-Afghan dialogue. And this will push Afghanistan to strengthen cooperation with the SCO, but in the long term.