ISLAMABAD/KABUL: Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected allegations of Islamabad opposing Afghanistan’s bid for full membership on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, following reports that Kabul’s participation was stalled by a member of the region’s most powerful bloc.
Founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and several Central Asian states, the SCO has since expanded to include India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus. Although it does not function as a military alliance like NATO, it is an important forum for managing relations among major powers across Eurasia.
In reports that emerged last month, Zamir Kabulov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special representative and top envoy on Afghan policy, said that Afghanistan, which has observer status, has been sidelined from full participation, despite majority approval.
Kabulov told the Russian daily newspaper Izvestia in June that “due to the opposition of one member state, and because all decisions in the organization are made by consensus, this process has not yet begun.”
While Kabulov did not name the country, Izvestia cited Russian government sources identifying Pakistan, which they said opposed Afghanistan’s membership, citing security concerns.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Islamabad has not opposed Afghanistan’s membership in the SCO.
“I am not aware of any blockade that Pakistan has initiated or imposed in this regard,” Tahir Andrabi, a spokesperson at the ministry, told reporters on Thursday during a press briefing.
“Regarding Afghanistan’s inclusion in the SCO, I think you should look at the membership of the SCO. And then see how many of the SCO members have found diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. In order for Afghanistan to become an SCO member state, it should at least have diplomatic relations with those countries.”
Two high-ranking sources in the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to Arab News that the opposition was coming from Pakistan despite acceptance by all other SCO members, especially the most powerful ones: China and Russia.
“Because of the consensus rule, we face a problem from one country. Even when I was in China, the SCO secretary-general told me personally that one country is opposing our membership, but all other countries want Afghanistan to join,” one of the sources said.
“The joint stance of all regional countries is to engage Afghanistan in the region — and engagement does not just mean accepting diplomats. It means activating Afghanistan’s participation in all existing structures, frameworks, and organizations.”
The diplomatic impasse and Kabulov’s comments came as Pakistan and Russia held the 12th meeting of their Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism in Islamabad last month. According to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, both sides discussed “terrorism originating from Afghanistan” and the threats it poses to regional security.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul deteriorated sharply when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistan has since witnessed an increase in militant attacks, particularly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. The violence has largely been blamed on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or the Pakistani Taliban.
While the group is not affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, Islamabad accuses Kabul of allowing militants to use its territory to plan attacks on Pakistani soil — a claim the Afghan Taliban government has repeatedly denied.
Over the past few months, the tensions have led to some of the most serious military confrontations between the two neighbors in recent years.
