Asia Times
July 10, 2015
Things are rumbling to a finale in Ufa. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) ratified a resolution Friday on what the organization expects to accomplish over the next 10 years.
The SCO Development Strategy provides a comprehensive blueprint for the targets and tasks the organization expects to develop by 2025. It was ratified in Ufa, Russia where the 15th SCO summit was held this week.
eaders at Ufa SCO summit
At the same session, the SCO nations began a process to grant India and Pakistan full membership in the organization. They also elevated Belarus to the status of observer from dialogue partner, and took in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal as new dialogue partners, according to the document.
Analysts told Shanghai Daily, that with its expansion the SCO will provide a platform for broader economic and security cooperation within the Eurasian region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed the group’s expansion and called on the member states to uphold the “Shanghai Spirit” for common development, reported Xinhua.
China believes that admitting new nations to the SCO will inject fresh impetus into the organization’s all-ranging cooperation, Xinhua quoted Xi as saying. He also called on the member states to deepen industrial capacity cooperation and push forward the building of industrial parks in every member state.
