Russia and China illuminate an alternative to the West, with Iran, “for a fairer multipolar order”

Russia and China have lit this Friday a alternative to the world led by the West, with the entry of Iran on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)which during its summit in Uzbekistan invited other Asian countries to build “a fairer multipolar order“. In its final declaration of the summit, the SCO has advocated expanding defense and security cooperation among its members.

“The SCO is today the largest regional organization in the world. More than half of the planet’s population lives in its member countries, and it contributes a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product,” said Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, during his speech at the summit held in the city of Samarkand.

The so-called “Eastern NATO”, which already accepted India and Pakistan five years ago, has had the presence of representatives from twenty countries, some of them opposed to the West, such as Burma and Belarus.

As a witness for the prosecution, the Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a member of NATO, has attended, but who was willing to cooperate with that organization by accusing the West of creating new dividing walls in the world.

Cooperation in defense and security

In its final statement, the SCO has advocated expanding defense and security cooperation, especially in the face of the threat of terrorism, something that is of particular concern to Chinawhich has promised to train 2,000 specialists in anti-terrorist activities.

The organization defends “a more representative, democratic and fair multipolar world” with the argument that in recent years there has been a “degradation” of world affairs, which causes new crises and conflicts: “It is increasingly clear growing role of new centers of power, which cooperate with each other not on the basis of certain rules imposed from abroad. Fundamental transformations are taking place in world politics and economy, and they are of an irreversible character,” Putin said.

The SCO has advocated political and diplomatic settlement of the conflicts, not to mention the ongoing Russian “special military campaign” in Ukraine. “I know that now is not the time for wars,” said Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, when meeting with the Russian president; in response, Putin has promised that Moscow will do “everything possible to finish the campaign as soon as possible”, but added that “unfortunately, the other party, the leaders of Ukraine, have expressed their rejection of the negotiation process, because they want to achieve their objectives by military means”.

Iran, whose president, Ebrahim Raisí, has spoken at the summit, has consummated its entry as a full member, although it will not sit at the same table with the other eight members until 2023.