W Musavir
ASTANA: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) added two more members to its body when neighboring India and Pakistan joined. SCO will be officially transforming into the Shanghai Eight, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said at the SCO Summit in Astana on Friday.
At the Astana Summit, President Nazarbayev averred that the SCO is expanding as India and Pakistan are about to become its full-fledged members. “The decision to grant the observer status to India and Pakistan was signed here in Astana 12 years ago… Today’s meeting is important because these two countries participate in it for the first time. Now the zone of the SCO responsibility embraces the territory with population of over three billion people. That means that the organization embarks on a new stage in its institutional development as the Shanghai Eight,” Nazarbayev added at the session in the extended format.
The Kazakh leader reminded that the member states observe growth of geopolitical tension in some regions that border the SCO territory. “Given that the adoption of the SCO Heads of State’s Statement on joint fight against international terrorism is a timely step. I would like to note that the SCO Convention on counter-extremism that we are about to sign is also relevant,” the Head of State said. Nazarbayev also pointed out that the SCO did a lot to strengthen cooperation with various international organizations. For instance, the Resolution of the UN General Assembly with the SCO was adopted in November 2016.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing SCO summit said that Indian participation as full time member. “We will take SCO to new heights. India would be very keen to “deepen” the focus on connectivity in the region. He said there are extensive potentials for cooperation among the SCO nations in multiple sectors like education, agriculture, energy, development and counter terror measures.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the two countries should work to “appropriately” manage their differences. Xi also congratulated India on becoming an official member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security bloc, jointly led by Russia and China. Narenda Modi expressed his happiness over meeting President Xi Jinping and thanked him for supporting India’s bid to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) – a consortium that focuses on security and trade.
All the leaders of summit raised the focus on rise of terrorism on different regions across the world.
Nursultan Nazarbayev had earlier greeted all SCO Heads of State – Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev – at the Palace of Independence. After the joint photo session, the SCO leaders gathered for a narrow-format meeting at the palace. At the onset of the meeting, Nursultan Nazarbayev gave a special welcome to Shavkat Mirziyoyev who participated in the SCO top-level meeting for the first time since being elected the President of Uzbekistan.
The Kazakh leader wished him success in his work and in joint SCO activities. The Kazakh President also recalled the time when the organization was founded by five countries 16 years ago, namely China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. He emphasized that since then the SCO has gained international recognition and become the effective platform of multifaceted cooperation. According to President Nazarbayev, a lot of work has been done to strengthen security in the region, deepen economic cooperation, and expand cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the member states. “The Astana Summit marks the new page in history of our organization. This is the last time we gathered in a six-party format,” the Kazakh President stressed adding that the official decision on India and Pakistan’s accession to the SCO had been made. “Accession of the new members will kick start the development of the organization and enable it to earn greater international standing,” the Head of State said.
At the end of his speech, Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that the fundamental interests of the SCO member states dictate the need to further deepen and expand cooperation in a larger format involving eight states. “I am confident that it is only through joint efforts that we can achieve a high level of interaction and meaningful results in all key areas of the Organization’s work,” he concluded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed in on the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the intermediate results of the Astana talks on Syrian settlement. President Putin who attends the Summit in Astana along with other SCO leaders said that India and Pakistan fulfilled all conditions and completed all necessary procedures to join the SCO after the Ufa Summit in 2015.
“Now it is our goal to help our new partners get involved in the SCO activities. The expansion will undoubtedly help the SCO become a more powerful organization and will also increase its political, economic and humanitarian influence. New opportunities are emerging as far as influencing the regional and global processes is concerned,” Vladimir Putin said.
At the same time the Russian President noted that fight on terrorism should be of uncompromising nature. “It is crucial to make every effort to neutralize the ideology of terrorism. In this connection, the role of the SCO regional anti-terror structure is gaining momentum,” he pointed out. In his remarks at the summit Vladimir Putin emphasized that the SCO is stepping up efforts to regulate conflicts in the Middle East, especially in Syria.
“I would like to note that lately promising moments have emerged in the Syrian crisis development and this is directly linked to launching international meetings in Astana with the help of Russia, Turkey and Iran. The most important achievement is the agreement on ceasefire zones in Syria. Now on this basis a real chance has emerged to consolidate ceasefire and give an impetus to the intra-Syrian negotiating process in Geneva,” he added. In conclusion, Putin proposed to resume activities of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group.
WMusavir is working with Media Hub Int’l Dubai.
Comments are closed.