SCO Photo: VCG

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has provided and will continue to provide a platform for countries in Eurasia which share common interests and security concerns to seek stability and development, and this platform will be increasingly valuable while the world is experiencing profound changes and turbulence, experts said as the SCO government heads meeting was held in Pakistan on Tuesday. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang landed in Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday to attend the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the SCO. During his stay, Li would also pay an official visit to the country, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China looks forward to working with all parties of the SCO to further carry forward the Shanghai Spirit, implement the outcomes of the Astana Summit, deepen cooperation in various fields, and promote the cohesion of the SCO so as to make greater contribution to regional peace, stability and development, said the Chinese premier in a statement released upon his arrival, Xinhua reported.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would visit Pakistan on October 15-16, Russian news agency Tass reported on Tuesday, where he would attend the SCO government heads meeting. 

The meeting would also be attended by heads of government from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the First Vice President of Iran Mohammad Reza Aref and Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, according to media reports.

The attendees will consider priority tasks to deepen trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation within the SCO. Coordinated approaches to solving the SCO's tasks in the global economy will be recorded in the final joint communique, the Tass reported.

A platform for peace, stability

Li Haidong, a professor from the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that since the establishment of the SCO in 2001, the organization has proved to be a platform that can provide stability, order and prosperity for not only the founding members but also other countries in Eurasia, and that is why the organization has expanded in recent years with new members like Belarus, Iran, Pakistan and India joining. 

When the world is suffering great turbulence today, as the Ukraine crisis and the Middle East conflicts continue to bring tragedies, some international organizations like the US-led NATO are intensifying the confrontation between countries and different blocs formed by countries, experts said. Therefore, the SCO, which opposes bloc confrontation and calls for cooperation and peace, will play a more important role, they noted. 

"China has now assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2024-2025. In the past two decades, China has had this role four times, and every time, China pushes concrete development for the organization," Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

For instance, the existing counterterrorism cooperation mechanism is expected to be reformed as the threats that SCO members face today are more complicated than in the past, Cui noted. 

On October 7, two Chinese nationals were killed and one was injured in a terrorist attack on a convoy carrying Chinese staff to a project in Karachi, Pakistan.  

Observers emphasized the importance of ongoing anti-terror efforts by Pakistan. As some forces seek to disrupt order in Pakistan and undermine China-Pakistan cooperation, the two countries should work closely to tackle the challenge. 

Other SCO members including Russia, Iran and some Central Asian countries face threats from different types of terrorism, so the members share a consensus of the need to effectively crack down, through joint efforts, on the financing and cross-border recruitment of terrorist groups, Cui noted. 

Apart from boosting economic cooperation, interconnectivity and integration, as well as security cooperation, the SCO is a platform for members to solve problems among them via diplomacy. This means that disputes or frictions among members will not weaken the organization but will make the organization more valuable for countries to seek solutions and mediation for complicated issues, said experts. 

For example, in the case of India's border disputes with both China and Pakistan, the SCO meeting provides opportunities for countries to communicate and manage frictions, preventing escalation and seeking chances to ease tensions, said Li Haidong. 

According to the Hindu, an Indian newspaper, both Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar have downplayed expectations of talks between them, stressing that this is a "multilateral" event. However, it is significant that "Jaishankar has decided to come, given that India has attended other SCO events in Pakistan via videoconferencing." 

Cui noted that "many of the SCO family are focusing on economic transition and industrialization, and in this process, stability is the key." 

"Without stability, development would be impossible," Cui noted.

The SCO, a platform where disputes can be addressed and mediated, has provided, and will keep providing stability for its members, Cui said. 

Shen Sheng contributed to the story