India and Pakistan have become full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) after the official approval by the Council of state leaders. Experts say that the accession of these two countries reflects the development of the SCO potential as an essential and, most importantly, effective form of cooperation in the region.
Even the fact that India and Pakistan have a long history of ongoing conflicts did not become an obstacle to joining the SCO. The decision to admit these countries to the organization was made at the recent summit in Astana. During the meeting, the national leaders also discussed such important issues as the current situations in Afghanistan, the Middle East, North Africa, and Ukraine. The participants of the summit reaffirmed their commitment to political and diplomatic settlement of conflict situations in various regions of the world on the basis of strict compliance with universally recognized norms and principles of the international law. The SCO members paid a special attention to the Syrian issue. Moreover, the heads of states unanimously supported the need for a political settlement to find a suitable solution to the Syrian crisis within the framework of the Geneva process under the UN auspices.
