The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has emerged as one of the most significant regional organizations, integrating such global giants as China, Russia, India, and several Central Asian countries. It is currently making efforts to be joined by many countries due to its increased political, trade, and security powers. One of such countries that only recently applied to be a full member is Azerbaijan.
But it has now become a controversial issue as Azerbaijan alleged that India has blocked its application. Baku said that this action was connected with its close relations with Pakistan, which has long-term conflicts with India. Simultaneously, Pakistan is also extending an invitation to one of the nations that are close to India, Armenia. This has further complicated the already sensitive geopolitics of the region.
Indian Position, and Strategic Issues
India has neither officially confirmed nor denied the fact that it vetoed the SCO membership of Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, the proximity of Baku to Pakistan affects the status of New Delhi. Azerbaijan has been openly supporting Pakistan in sensitive matters such as Kashmir over the last few years, as well as reinforcing its defense and diplomatic relations with Islamabad.
This is a big concern for India. New Delhi believes that the SCO is a significant platform to defend its strategic interests, given that both China and Pakistan are already members. We may also allow Azerbaijan to join the organization since it is a close partner of Pakistan and could be seen as giving Islamabad a stronger voice in the bloc.
Meanwhile, India is struggling to strike the right balance in its relations with Russia, China, and Central Asian countries within the SCO. New Delhi is perhaps sending a message that its partners will not be rewarded by its refusal to allow Azerbaijan to join, at a cost of potentially irritating other members.
You May Like To Read: Nepal’s Uprising: Lessons Beyond Borders
Azerbaijan’s Perspective
On the part of Azerbaijan, the response has been vigorous. President Ilham Aliyev was specifically accusing India of vetoing the SCO application in Baku. He associated this with the brotherly relations of Azerbaijan with Pakistan and posited that it was politics rather than the ideals of cooperation that dictated the opposition of New Delhi.
One of the reasons that Baku claims to be a member of the SCO is because of its strategic location, which links the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Europe. It also stresses how it serves as a source of energy in the region and as a transport route, which is crucial to the whole region.
Azerbaijan continues to insist that it will not alter its stand on Pakistan even following the setback. Rather, it views this as a challenge to its foreign policy autonomy and an indicator of how global and regional competition still influences international organizations.
The Pakistan Factor
Pakistan is at the centre of this problem. During the years, it has been strengthening its ties with Azerbaijan, particularly in defence and diplomatic relations. Baku has been facilitating Islamabad in its position on Kashmir, and Pakistan has been facilitating Azerbaijan in its tussle with Armenia. This reciprocity has transformed their relations into what the two nations tend to refer to as brotherly relations.
To India, this proximity is an omen. New Delhi fears that with Azerbaijan in the SCO, Pakistan will also have another formidable friend within the conference that is likely to sway the discussions against the interest of India. Pakistan, on the other hand, sees membership of Azerbaijan as a chance to strengthen the bloc as the SCO and offset the influence of India.
This relationship demonstrates that the Pakistan factor is at the center of the conflict. What would have been a mere membership choice has become linked to the bigger confrontation between India and Pakistan and is radiating its effects into new territories such as the Caucasus.
Pakistan–Armenia Angle
To make matters worse are the evolving relations between Pakistan and Armenia. Pakistan has never acknowledged Armenia for decades due to its close relationship with Azerbaijan. However, today, Islamabad is sending a message that it is open to warmer ties with Yerevan, in part to counteract the rising India-Armenia alliance.
India and Armenia are already increasing their relations, particularly in the field of defense. Armenia has bought Indian arms and welcomed the backing of New Delhi in its conflicts with Azerbaijan. Pakistan and Azerbaijan feel that this alliance threatens their common interests in the region.
The outcome is a new geopolitical triangle: India has become an ever-closer partner of Armenia, whereas Pakistan has become a solid ally of Azerbaijan. These shifting alliances reveal how the Caucasus and South Asia are becoming connected, and rivalries are leaking out.
Regional, and Geopolitical Consequences
There is more than a mere membership dispute in the blocked bid of Azerbaijan. It reveals the way the South Asian rivalries have now come to shape the politics of Eurasia. The SCO was originally designed as a cooperative platform in the areas of security, trade, and regional stability, and the divisions between the members are proving to make that spirit difficult to preserve.
The fact that only India stands against Azerbaijan points to the possibility of the SCO being another battleground of the India-Pakistan rivalry. Meanwhile, it also points to the rising importance of the Caucasus to wider Asian politics. Since China and Russia are the two largest actors in the SCO, their reaction will be significant. Both can attempt to keep the group together and, at the same time, struggle to maintain their relations with Baku, Islamabad, and New Delhi.
It is not only the question of the application of Azerbaijan. It concerns the way regional alliances change and how world powers will manage competing interests in an era of increasing uncertainty.
You May Like To Read: September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed the World
