SCO meeting likely to deepen regional security cooperation

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization which turned 15 on June 15 will get a good opportunity to review its achievements and chart a new course at the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in Tashkent on June 23-24.

In the run-up to the Tashkent meeting, however, many speculations have been doing the rounds. Many believe the SCO will induct new members while others want to know how it will rise up to new security challenges in the region. It is widely perceived that leaders of the SCO member states will endorse the membership of Pakistan and India. The memberships of two South Asian countries were approved last year at the SCO's summit in Ufa, Russia, but a series of formal procedures need to be carried out before the two countries can be formally admitted to the bloc.

Since its formation in Shanghai 15 years ago, the SCO, which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has become increasingly effective in tackling regional issues, and the time now is right for the bloc to increase its membership and expand its influence and political sway wider.