Bigger SCO brings boons, not threats, to intl community

UFA, Russia - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is growing in size, but a larger SCO means more boons, not threats, to the international community.

Leaders of SCO member states -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- will gather later this week in the Russian city of Ufa for an annual summit.

A decision on starting procedures for India and Pakistan to join the bloc as full members is scheduled to be adopted at the meeting, signifying the official beginning of the SCO's expansion, Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said Monday.

It will be the first time for the bloc to add full members since it was established in 2001 in Shanghai, China.

Thanks to the member states' achievements through cooperation, the SCO appeal is growing. Many countries have shown interest in joining the bloc, appreciating its philosophy of mutual trust and mutual benefit.

With its expansion, the bloc will provide a platform for broader economic and security cooperation within the Eurasian region and help make the world more stable and prosperous.

Both India and Pakistan are challenged by terrorism, separatism and extremism. Their potential entry into the SCO will be a positive step for the two countries to improve their domestic security situation, as the rich experience accumulated by the bloc will help them tackle the "three evil forces."

It will also play a constructive role in pushing for the improvement of their bilateral relations.

The expansion will fuel the SCO's growth, speed up its internal interaction and broaden its scope for cooperation.

The eagerness of countries to join the SCO reflects the fact that the "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development is being widely recognized by the international community.

However, as the bloc is opening its doors, some Westerners are once again fanning speculation that the SCO is keen to form an alliance against the West.

Actually, these groundless conclusions are nothing but a product of an obsolete Cold War mentality. If the West would like to face up to facts, it will see a new model of international relations the SCO has created, focused on partnership instead of alliance against any third party.

Since the organization's birth, the SCO member states have produced a list of tangible achievements in security and economic cooperation.

Over the past decade, the SCO has made concerted efforts to effectively block mounting security threats in the region through the creation of transnational anti-terror agencies and the staging of multinational joint drills.

The regional group has never forgotten its founding principle of non-alignment and devotes itself to regional security and peace.

Within the framework of the SCO, the member states have cemented economic and trade cooperation.

China, as a major economy in the organization, has spared no efforts to promote cooperation among the member states and reinforce the consciousness of a community of common destiny.

In May, Beijing and Moscow agreed to integrate their development strategies to increase regional trade and infrastructure through China's Silk Road Economic Belt and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The move will boost the development of the SCO, as many of its members are located on the Belt and involved in the EAEU.

At the same time, the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank also provides a good opportunity for the SCO members to speed up building and upgrading highways, railroads and air routes.

Thus, the SCO is solely a platform for cooperation that is focused on its own development and never targets any third party. A bigger SCO will play a bigger role in the world and take more responsibility for global stability and prosperity.