The US is facing competition on its monopoly in overseeing the regional conflicts facing Pakistan and Afghanistan by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which is holding a summit to discuss the terrorism in Afghanistan on August 16, reported Asia Times Online.

The US recently gave Pakistan a dozen F-16 aircrafts that the PAF will receive in the coming months. The US gesture comes at a critical juncture in the geopolitics of the region with an upcoming summit of the SCO. Islamabad has expressed interest in forging closer ties with the SCO, consisting of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and the summit offers an opportunity.

According to the report, there are clear signs that the SCO is courting Pakistan, and especially Afghanistan, with offers of mutual engagement in terms of shared interests of regional security. It is also recommending to the SCO summit that observer countries such as Pakistan be involved "more actively" in the organisation’s activities.

According to the report, the SCO is likely to pose a challenge, for the first time, to the US’ monopoly of conflict resolution in Afghanistan by proclaiming its intention to work closely with Kabul and Islamabad.

According to the report, Washington has also been propagating a "Great Central Asia" strategy, aimed towards reducing the influence of Russia and China.

The report states that from US perspective, Pakistan’s strategic importance becomes more compelling after the SCO’s actions, as Washington needs a Pakistani government it can guide.

The story adds that the real challenge facing Musharraf [and the US] is from a popular uprising, with it increasingly appearing that a military crackdown may become necessary.

Thus the second week of July is set to go down as a defining period in US regional policy. The receipt of the F-16s at Sargodha amounts to more than another US-Pakistan defence transaction — Washington is showing its support for Musharraf. daily times monitor.