Former Kyrgyz ambassador proposes gradual expansion of SCO

06:17, 31 May 2012

BISHKEK. May 30. KAZINFORM The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has become a prominent force in the world and should take a gradual approach to expansion, says a former Kyrgyz ambassador to China.

After more than 10 years of development, the SCO has achieved significant recognition not only in the region but throughout the world, Erlan Abdyldayev told Xinhua ahead of an SCO summit scheduled for early June in Beijing, Xinhua reports.

The SCO has signed a significant number of documents that define the interaction and cooperation in many areas and now serves as a platform to discuss the most important and vital issues of Central Asia, he said.

Expansion of the organization is necessary, he said, adding that "SCO member countries should take the right decision by going slowly, step by step, to the adoption of new members."

"I argue for the expansion of the organization, but you need to expand not for the sake of expansion, but for the efficiency of the organization: its weight and influence in regional and international affairs," he said.

As previously announced, one of the major themes of the Beijing summit is the issue of granting observer status to Afghanistan and the status of dialogue partner to Turkey.

These are long-awaited issues, Abdyldayev said.

On the issue of Afghanistan, its active participation in the SCO framework will help ensure stability and security in the region given its current situation and the planned withdrawal of international forces from the country by 2014, he said.

"All the SCO member countries should do everything to ensure Afghanistan is not posing any threat to the region," Abdyldayev said.

Founded in 2001, the SCO groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.