SCO and the Belt and Road Initiative – the Prospect of Double Insurance to Afghanistan

The article is devoted to the analysis of the impact of the SCO and the Belt and Road Initiative on the stability and economic development of Afghanistan. The author substantiates the possibility that the SCO and the Belt and Road Initiative can complement each other for peace and development in Afghanistan. The SCO provides a safe sphere for the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative in Afghanistan, and the Belt and Road Initiative helps that the economy of Afghanistan will become part of the regional economy. The complexity of this problem is noted due to the fact that the positions of the SCO member states with regard to Afghanistan differ significantly, the Organization makes decisions solely by consensus, and the situation in Afghanistan is unstable. The author points out that these difficulties can be overcome, since the SCO member states are obliged to resolve disputes among themselves only peacefully, the projects developed by the SCO could potentially be planned by groups of interested participants on the principle of multilateralism a la carte, as Russian experts have already suggested, and increasing the interest of the SCO countries bordering Afghanistan in implementing economic projects related to This country will contribute to strengthening stability in Afghanistan and in the region as a whole. The integration of the SCO’s activities with the Belt and Road initiative will require minimizing threats that may emanate from the territory of Afghanistan to neighboring countries, ensuring the security of infrastructure and other facilities created on the territory of Afghanistan with external participation, as well as creative development of organizational and legal mechanisms of the SCO’s activities.