Russia-India-China
1) Russia, India and China (RIC) have been
interacting trilaterally since 1996. This
is 13th Foreign ministers' meeting. The trilateral format was initiated
by holding meetings of the ministries of foreign affairs on the margins of the
United Nations General Assembly sessions in New York. The principles
laid down in the trilateral dialogues are that of equality, mutual trust and
consensus.
2)
The
RIC trilateral cooperation has great importance in terms of geopolitics as the
three countries are home to around 2.4 billion, 40 percent of the world’s total
population and account for 22.5 per cent of the total area of the world.
3) The agenda of the ministerial meeting in this
format includes an exchange of views on key international and regional
problems, including the war on international terror, illicit drug trafficking
and other major challenges including intensification of trilateral economic
interactions.
4)
RIC’s
main agenda have been to oppose unilateralism and to promote a pluralistic
democratic international order.
5)
Russia-India-China’s
possible axis formation is an important political idea that emerged in the
post-Cold War period. It was advocated by Russian President Yeltsin in 1993 and
Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov in 1996.
6)
They
back the primacy of the United Nations in solving crises and support the
principle of non-intervention in internal affairs of sovereign states.
7)
One
of the major areas of cooperation for the three countries is energy security.
Russia is an energy surplus country, whereas, China and India are energy-
deficient.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC)
1)
Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a
forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout
the Asia-Pacific region. It was established in
1989.
2) Members account for approximately 40% of the world's population,
approximately 54% of the world's gross domestic product and about 44% of world trade.
3) An annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is attended by the heads of government of all APEC members except Taiwan. A famous tradition involves the
attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host country.
4) APEC carries out work in
three main areas:
i.
Trade
and Investment Liberalisation
ii.
Business
Facilitation
iii.
Economic
and Technical Cooperation
5) APEC has been criticized for promoting free trade agreements that would
limit national and local laws, which regulate and ensure labour rights,
environmental protection and safe and affordable access to medicine.
6) whether it has accomplished anything constructive remains debatable,
especially from the viewpoints of European countries that cannot take part in
APEC and Pacific Island
nations that cannot participate but will suffer its consequences.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO)
1) The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) or Shanghai
Pact is Eurasian political, economic and
military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of
China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
2) The Council of Heads of State is the top decision-making body in the
SCO. This council meets at the SCO summits annually.
3) The SCO is primarily centred on its member nations Central Asian security-related concerns,
often describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism. Over the
past few years, the organisation's activities have expanded to include
increased military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counter-terrorism.
4) All SCO members but China are also members of the Eurasian Economic Community. Cultural cooperation also occurs in the SCO framework.
5) Western observers believe that one of the original purposes of the SCO
was to serve as a counter balance to NATO.
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