SCO’s expansion to increase its power, influence - Putin

ASTANA, June 9. /TASS/. The expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will increase its power, as well as political, economic and humanitarian influence, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the SCO summit. "The expansion will undoubtedly help the SCO become a more powerful organization and will also increase its political, economic and humanitarian influence," the Russian leader said. At Thursday’s summit, India and Pakistan will become full-fledged SCO members. "New opportunities are emerging (for the SCO), as far as influencing the regional and global processes is concerned," Putin pointed out. The Russian president also said that the accession process of India and Pakistan had begun at the SCO summit in Russia’s Ufa in 2015. "In the past two years, India and Pakistan fulfilled all conditions and completed all the necessary procedures," he said. "Now we should help our new partners get fully involved in the SCO’s multifaceted activities," Putin noted. The Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was singed in China’s Shanghai in June 2001 by six founding states - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia currently enjoy observer status while Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are dialogue partners. Read more