BISHKEK, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can become an essential component of the global security system in the future, says Kyrgyz Deputy Foreign Minister Emil Kaikiyev.
"To date, the SCO has become an authoritative regional organization and an example of a new type of association. In the long term, as the organization is strengthened and its geospatial framework is expanded through the admission of new members and the development of dialogue mechanisms at the international level, it can become in the future an essential component of the global security system," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.
The Kyrgyz official said that one of the important issues of the upcoming SCO summit in Astana will be the accession of India and Pakistan to the SCO. "The decision is historic, and the organization's members will be increased to 8 states," he said.
The SCO now covers China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The accession procedures for India and Pakistan started in 2015.
China said last week that India and Pakistan will complete the process of joining the SCO during the Astana summit, the first time for the SCO to expand membership since its founding in 2001.
Kaikiyev believes that the expansion will further strengthen cooperation in security and interstate economic interaction.
"The total territory of the SCO member countries will make 60 percent of the territory of Eurasia, and the total population of the SCO countries will be about 3 billion and 40 million people (about half of the world's population)," he added.
The Kyrgyz official also believes that two countries' accession will not change the organization's principles and goals.
Read the full story at Xinhua