In a joint statement, leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) have condemned US and Israeli military strikes on Iran and Western sanctions on some of their members. The ‘Bishkek Declaration’ was signed, among others, by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The declaration came after a two-day summit in Kyrgyzstanโs capital, Bishkek. The SCOโs 10 members are China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
India had so far refrained from condemning the United States and Israel for their military action against Iran. New Delhi has also been extremely reluctant to condemn Israel for its sustained attacks on Palestine. At past SCO and BRICS summits, too, no agreement was reached on the language to be used in joint declarations on the war in Iran and the attacks on Palestine. It is in this context that the ‘Bishkek Declaration’ assumes significance.
The declaration is also seen as another sign of the decline of the US as a major power and an acknowledgement of Iranโs ability to withstand what the declaration describes as military strikes against it. While US President Donald Trump is likely to fret and fume and dismiss the declaration as signifying nothing, diplomatically the declaration is among the strongest in recent times to condemn military action by the US and Israel.ย
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