The virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, which was hosted by India on July 4, brought the focus onto geopolitical tectonic shifts, global threats and new opportunities for Eurasian powers.
"The world is moving toward multilateralism and we find that the UN, which is the largest grouping of countries, is becoming ineffective and highly politicized by the West," Indian military veteran Ret. Major General Shashi Bhushan Asthana told Sputnik, commenting on the recent summit.
"Therefore, all over the world, the other groupings are coming up and taking a major load off the UN, and in that context, SCO has become an important forum with 40% of the global population and 20 percent of the world's GDP."
"It is an important grouping where you have China, Russia - two P5 members [P5 are five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Sputnik], India another important member, and other players of Asia. Earlier, most groupings, whether it is the United Nations which came out of the Atlantic Charter or NATO, all these platforms were Western-oriented. SCO, on the other hand, is an Asian-oriented bloc, and in an era of multilateralism, it has provided a little bit of balance," he continued.
SCO's Expansion: Iran Joins the Club, More to Come
On July 4, the SCO held its 23rd summit with the participation of the entity's eight permanent members, heads of the observer countries and the UN secretary-general. For the first time in the last six years, the organization welcomed a new member: Iran was officially admitted to the SCO. The last time the SCO expanded was in 2017, when India and Pakistan joined the Eurasian club.
The Islamic Republic signed a memorandum of commitment to obtain the status of SCO member at the September 2022 SCO meeting in Samarkand.
Iran is not the only country that has sought full-fledged membership in the organization. Belarus is reportedly due to obtain the status in 2024. In addition, multiple countries including Turkiye, Afghanistan, and Mongolia have expressed interest in joining the bloc.......more below
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
Sergey Shoigu has cautioned Finland and the Baltic states against allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russia.
Russia would have the right to retaliate if Finland and the Baltic states are deliberately allowing Ukrainian drones to pass through their airspace, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday.
“Recently, there has been an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia via Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” Shoigu told journalists. “As a result, civilians are suffering and significant damage is being caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either Western air defenses are proving ineffective, or these four countries “deliberately provide their airspace, thereby becoming open accomplices in aggression against Russia,” he added. In the latter case, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the security chief stressed.
In recent weeks, Kiev has intensified drone strikes on ...
