In a move analysts see as both a survival strategy and a calculated signal of dissatisfaction with Asean, Laos has joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a dialogue partner.
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The decision was confirmed on September 1 during the SCO summit in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, where Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith thanked the Eurasian bloc’s 10 member states for their unanimous support.
Laos was “ready to participate in the promotion of peace and stability in the region and sustainable development”, he reportedly told delegates, adding that the bloc’s principles “align with Laos’ guidelines and foreign policies”.
Founded in 2001 by China, Russia and a handful of Central Asian nations, the SCO today also counts India, Pakistan and Iran among its members.
Myanmar and Cambodia are already partner states, with Laos now joining as the third Southeast Asian participant in what one analyst described as “an alternative regional order” explicitly positioned against Western dominance.
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Aniello Iannone, a lecturer in Southeast Asian politics at Indonesia’s Diponegoro University, described Vientiane’s choice to join the SCO as both “pragmatic and strategic”.