Special attention was given to the military and political situation in Afghanistan and the risk of its escalation

India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tajikistan on June 23 and 24, 2021 during which they discussed plans for the Russia-India interaction in the security sphere and cooperation among the security and law-enforcement agencies. The two leaders also exchanged their opinions on the evolving situation in Afghanistan and the Asia-Pacific region during the meeting. Doval and Patrushev had over two-hour-long meeting. All the NSAs at the SCO meeting agreed to cooperate in the joint fight against the threats of international terrorism, separatism, extremism, and religious radicalisation. In a joint statement, special attention was given to the current military and political situation in Afghanistan and the risk of its escalation. Pakistani National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf and Afghan NSA Hamdullah Mohib were among the participants at the in-person meeting that discussed key regional security issues, including the evolving situation in Afghanistan. NSAAjit Doval and Pakistan counterpart Moeed Yusuf joined NSAs of the SCO member countries in Dushanbe where they agreed to cooperate in the joint fight against the threats of “international terrorism”, “extremism”, “separatism” and "religious radicalism", a statement issued by host Tajikistan said. It said the NSAs met Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon. This was the 16th meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Councils of the SCO.President Rahmon said Tajikistan, as the current SCO chairman, attaches great importance to the meeting of the NSAs. Cooperation in the joint fight against the threats of international terrorism, extremism, separatism, religious radicalism, the risks of increasing transnational organised crime, including arms and drug trafficking, were discussed at the meeting, the statement said. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the SCO, it said, can play an important role in ensuring regional security and strengthening ties between member states in combating threats and challenges of the modern world.

The meeting also discussed cooperation between member states in ensuring reliable information security, the joint fight against cybercrime and the issues of biological security and food security in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the statement said. In September last year, Doval walked out of a virtual meeting of the SCO after the Pakistani representative projected a map that inaccurately depicted Kashmir. India had slammed Pakistan for the “blatant disregard” to the norms of the meeting. The SCO - an eight-member economic and security bloc - has emerged as a bloc to counterbalance NATO and is also one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became their permanent members in 2017. India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and RATS, which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organisation founded in Shanghai. The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO. It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on allimportant matters of the organisation. Military exercises are also regularly conducted among members to promote cooperation and coordination against terrorism and other external threats, and to maintain regional peace and stability. The SCO is the largest regional organisation in the world in terms of geographical coverage and population, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent and nearly half of the human population. There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China. Since then, China and Russia have teamed up for several large-scale war games under the auspices of the SCO.

(The writer is Retired Senior Professor, International Trade, Member, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) New Delhi. The views expressed are personal)