SCO and Pakistan’s Foreign Policy Shift: A Study of Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Pakistan’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2017 initiated a significant reorientation of its foreign policy between 2017 and 2024. The paper will examine the effects of SCO membership on the strategic alignments, security cooperation, economic diplomacy, and the relationships of Pakistan with major powers with reference to foreign policy. The results indicate that the SCO allowed Pakistan to transform its bilateral, Western-oriented foreign policy, to a diversified, Eurasia-based, framework. The inclusion into RATS, common military drills, and local intelligence sharing capabilities increased the counterterrorism capability of Pakistan, but also attracted the interests of securitization and human-rights probing, Economically, the inclusion into SCO provided more legitimacy to CPEC regionally, increased the access of Pakistan to Central Asia and Russia, and facilitated regional connectivity strategies, but the trade and financial profits were still limited by the structural frames. The paper also illustrates intensification of strategic relationship with China, as compared to gradual deterioration of the relationship between Pakistan and the United States of America, which is characterized by reduced aid, strategic drift, and the U.S. Indo-Pacific tilt. Nevertheless, this did not stop Pakistan to pursue a balancing strategy and retain a critical economic and diplomatic involvement with both China and United States but also resulted in an increasing number of long-term dependence, especially to China, and a further complication of relations with Western players. The paper identifies the necessity of multi-vector diplomacy in a balanced way and domestic reforms to maximize the opportunities of SCO.