SCO to play active role in intra-Afghan dialogue

The admission of India and Pakistan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as new members will create new impetus to the development of this organization, Alexander Lukin, director of the Center for East Asia and SCO Studies, told TASS on Tuesday.

"The entrance of India and Pakistan, and of Iran in a long-term perspective, as full-fledged members will be very useful for the SCO," the Russian expert said. "It’s going to give a new impetus to the organization’s development in areas like economy and security," Lukin said.

"There are all grounds to assume that the SCO could play a more active role in the intra-Afghan dialogue in future after its enlargement thanks to India and Pakistan," the Russian expert went on to say. "Moreover, it’s only the SCO that can play this role at this stage. Pakistan is not the only country which has a potential to influence some players in the political processes in Afghanistan. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan also have certain influence on the Tajik and Uzbek segments of the Afghan society," Lukin stressed.

Lukin assumes that other states could also join the SCO in future. "The SCO foundation documents state that the organization keeps the door open to new members. The candidate state’s location in Eurasia is the main criteria for the SCO membership. Another vital condition is that a candidate state should not be under the UN sanctions," Lukin said adding that the new members were unlikely to have any differences after the organization’s planned enlargement.

"Internal differences are typical of most international organizations. Even the European Union is facing such problems though the process of adoption of collective decisions at SCO will certainly be difficult at some stage," the Russian expert said.