The new Warsaw pact is really fucking scary.

I had never heard of the SCO (Shanghai Co-operation Organization) before and you probably haven't either but you should. The fact this Asian bloc isn't more widely known is a tragedy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation

As you can see Russia, China, Pakistan, India, and 4 other countries are all members with Pakistan and India recently joining in June. Iran has tried to join since 2008 but SCO won't take members that have UN sanctions. After the Iran deal, these sanctions are lifted and China promised Iran membership in Jan 2017.

So what is SCO? It is an anti-terrorism, anti-extremism, regional bloc. Is it a military alliance? Not, yet but many members want it. Since 2014 there has been huge debate as to whether or not to turn SCO into a military bloc, like CSTO or NATO.

NATO still spends 70% of the world's military budget but the potential SCO military alliance would be unfathomable and devastating.

Please leave a comment on who you think would win SCO vs NATO. Also, I just learned about this so if you have done any further research then feel free to post it.

SCO vs. Just NATO is an interesting question. What would be more interesting would be SCO, CSTO, Iran, DPRK vs NATO, ANZUS, Rio Pact, Philippines, Japan, and South Korea. Ultimately the main front in Russia would become a NATO victory as logistics prevents China and India from transferring units and supplies there fast enough. ROC and South Korea would fall to the main Asian alliance, but an Invasion of Japan or the Philppines would be impossible. Meanwhile Russia would be occupied to the Urals, while Russian resistance would stand strong in Siberia. After that, Europe's focus would turn to helping the Turks against Syria and Iran, which would probably be the most interesting front of the war. Long term war against China would involve retaking Taiwan to use as a base to consistently bomb Chinese Cities and Factories.
I honestly have no clue where the Middle Eastern front would go. Since all of Iran is basically mountainous, the front would probably stagnate.

As for SCO even becoming a Defensive pact, both India and Pakistan are slightly NATO leaning, I believe because of ties to the Commonwealth and shared ideology.

The SCO is a military non-starter. It works on a cultural, counterterrorist, and economic level, but the competing interests of its members ensures that we won't be fighting a unified SCO military alliance.

India, for instance, is in the SCO alongside China and Pakistan. India despises Pakistan, and India continually butts heads with China over hegemony in the Indian Ocean and over Kashmir. See this article for more: http://thediplomat.com/2017/06/its-official-india-and-pakistan-join-shanghai-cooperation-organization/

Even if military cooperation goes smoothly, the SCO won't work as a united front against NATO. India, due to tensions with other SCO members, would probably side with the US, with which it has much better relations. And despite China and Russia's interests in countering the US, they still don't fully trust or like each other.

At some point, there absolutely will be a serious competitor for NATO, but the SCO ain't it.

I can't see Russia joining China's side in a Third World War, those countries have long broken off and Russia is now very much right-wing leaning whereas China continues to "strive" for Communism.

In any case, I find it likely that the SCO wouldn't stick together for a war against NATO, India and Pakistan would NEVER be allies, like DuceMoosolini said, and I also agree that India's relations with China are to strained.

In the event of a World War III, I would imagine that it would start in either Taiwan or in Korea, and grow to a World War through alliances.