SCO grows, expands, does more work
- By Sun Zhuangzhi
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E-mail China Daily, July 10, 2015
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Chinese President Xi Jinping poses for photos with leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members and observers, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) leaders, leaders of invited countries and the BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in Ufa, Russia, July 9, 2015. [Xinhua/Rao Aimin] |
The two-day meeting of the Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of State, which opened on Thursday in Ufa, capital of Russia's Bashkortostan Republic, adopted procedural steps for the current observers India and Pakistan to join the organization, as part of its expansion program.
The SCO meeting followed the seventh BRICS Summit in the same city on Wednesday and Thursday. It is also the second time this year that Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited Russia. At the invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Xi attended the Victory Day parade in Moscow just two months ago.
The SCO currently has six member states - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The admission of India and Pakistan will be the first time the bloc has added full members.
Apart from the expansion plan, the efforts to inject new momentum into the SCO-led multilateral cooperation are also worth noting. The ongoing summit is expected to ratify the SCO Development Strategy until 2025 and strengthen anti-drug trafficking cooperation between the SCO members, shaping the future layout of the bloc's prime tasks.
Realizing China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative also requires Beijing to work closely with all the states along the "road", many of which are its SCO partners, in order to make concrete progress.
Moscow, which has suffered from the Western economic sanctions due to its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis since 2013, hopes to give its best political performance at the two summits, securing international support to help it recover.
On the sidelines of the Ufa-based summits, Xi and Putin will meet to push for further cooperation between their countries, working on a good model for an equal and reciprocal major power relationship. Two months ago, in their last meeting, they witnessed the signing of more than 30 cooperative deals, including financing, aerospace and railways.
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