Pakistan qualifies for SCO membership

Pakistan has qualified to become member of Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), a key regional security grouping in Central Asia.
"We believe Pakistan has proved its credentials as a frontline state in the war against terrorism, and its presence would add to the strength of the organisation," an official of the SCO Secretariat said in Beijing.
Talking to APP, he expressed hope that member countries China, Russia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan would support Pakistan's request for the membership when it would formally come up under consideration.
"Normalisation of India-Pakistan relations is a healthy development, further expanding the structural network of SCO," the official said.
Pakistan has applied for SCO membership in September 2000, and up till now its application was pending for consideration. Initially, Pakistan's request had faced some opposition from member states on the issue of terrorism.
However, in the recent years Pakistan firmly stood against terrorism and played a major role promoting peace and security in the region. It has put Pakistan in a strong position to get the membership.
"We welcome co-operation of any country willing to abide by the aims and principles of 'Shanghai Six' and whose joining might be beneficial for the peace and development," said an official of the Chinese Foreign Office.
President Pervez Musharraf during his recent visit to China also discussed with the Chinese leadership Islamabad's application for the SCO.
According to the diplomatic sources, Beijing is eager to include Pakistan into SCO-one of whose key goals is fighting terrorism and religious extremism.
When contacted, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said the expansion of the SCO has not been decided as yet, although a number of countries--including India and Pakistan--hope to join it.
The SCO, she said, is still at an initial stage and is faced with a lot of work concerning the development of its mechanisms. "Therefore, its members have decided not to admit new members for the time being," said Zhang, adding that it would follow the principle of openness and accept more members in the future.
Diplomatic sources, however, indicated that the question of SCO's expansion is likely to come under consideration at the fourth summit meeting scheduled to take place in Tashkent around middle of this year.
Analysts here observe that Pakistan's presence in the six-nation SCO will allow it to deepen security and economic ties with the resource-rich Central Asian region as well as reinforce its ties individually with each of the countries.
The SCO is expected to discuss new membership rules at its next meeting.
The SCO Secretariat was established in Beijing last month. Its main functions are to provide organisational and technical guarantees for SCO's activities, to participate in the research and implementation of documents of various departments and set forth suggestions for the organisation's annual budget.
Zhang Deguang, former Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister was appointed the first secretary-general of the SCO. Prior to the inauguration ceremony, the SCO foreign ministers held an ad hoc meeting, exchanging views and putting forward suggestions on the organisation's development and preparations for the forthcoming summit meeting in 2004.