Could the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation help stabilise Afghanistan after US pull-out?

Any intervention by the security grouping, which is led by Russia and China, would be ‘totally different from the Soviet invasion’, diplomatic observers say

Instability that results from the American withdrawal may force the group to intervene in some form

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Anti-Taliban fighters and government troops on the outskirts of Kabul. The US withdrawal has led to a surge in attacks. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:00pm, 27 Jun 2021Updated: 10:40pm, 16 Aug 2021

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation may play a more active role in Afghanistan’s security after the planned US military withdrawal prompted an upsurge in violence that threatened to spill over into neighbouring countries, according to analysts.

Led by China and Russia and created in 2001, the SCO also includes India, Pakistan and four other former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It has four observer states – Afghanistan, Mongolia, Belarus and Iran – and six dialogue partners.

As a Eurasian security grouping focusing on anti-terrorism cooperation, member states have conducted multiple joint military exercises.

China has blamed a surge of attacks in Afghanistan on the abrupt withdrawal of US and Nato troops after two decades of deployment. Its embassy in Afghanistan warned its nationals to strengthen emergency preparedness and to leave the country as soon as possible.

Chinese soldiers take part in an SCO joint military exercise in Kyrgyzstan. Photo: AFP

Beijing also fears that the resulting instability will pose a security threat to its Belt and Road Initiative projects around the region and in Xinjiang, which borders the country.

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