BEIJING:
China welcomed
Pakistan becoming
full member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), as the first meeting of the heads of government from
member countries met Russian coastal city of Sochi, following the organization's expansion.
Welcoming
Pakistan as its
full member, diplomatic sources said here Thursday
China needs to focus on preserving the organization's unity. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang represents his country at the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (prime ministers) of the SCO.
This is the first meeting between
member states' heads of government after
Pakistan and India became SCO
full members at the Astana Summit in June, and also the first major diplomatic event of the Euro-Asia continent after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
As the first rotating presidency of the SCO since its expansion,
China will work with various parties to push forward and deepen the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" cooperation, and reach a new consensus on enhancing the integration of development strategies, connectivity, production capacity cooperation, people-to-people and cultural exchanges and other fields, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
China's role in the SCO is unshakable but India's membership will bring challenges to the SCO, Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of International Relations, told the local media.
"India, in many cases, unreasonably opposed China's agenda and showed a negative attitude toward the Belt and Road initiative, so
China needs to consider how to change India's mind-set through diplomacy. Otherwise, the SCO's unity and efficiency will surely be affected," Hu said.
On November 20,
China criticized a visit by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind to disputed areas. Aside from border issues, India opposes China's plan to enlarge the BRICS, known as BRICS Plus.
China hopes to turn the SCO into an organization which secures the construction of the Belt and Road. That means counter-terrorism and security cooperation will be a key topic for the organization. But this type of cooperation requires a very high level of mutual trust among members, said Wang Yiwei, an expert from Renmin University of China.
"Unfortunately, the mutual trust between
China and India is not very high, and the hostility between India and
Pakistan is also difficult to change," Wang noted. In some areas, such as counter-terrorist personnel training and joint exercises, we can try to find common ground with India, since both
China and India are victims of terrorism, Hu said.
"But we cannot always follow India's definition of terrorism because it might harm our best friend Pakistan. India and
Pakistan always criticize each other as 'the supporter of terrorism.'
China and the SCO should not get too involved in their bilateral issues," Hu remarked.
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