The SCO Summit in Ufa has been described as a landmark, for the first time in the 15-year period of the SCO new members have joined the organization. A document was signed on beginning the admission procedures for India and Pakistan. Some experts believe that with their admission to the SCO the Indo-Pakistani conflict and its resolution will be an internal affair of the organization that will close the US and NATO's ability to intervene in the affairs of these countries. It is said that, for the same reason, the SCO seeks cooperation with Afghanistan and Iran.
The Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the SCO, Director of the Department of Asian and Pacific cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bakhtiyer Khakimov, referring to the expansion of the organization, also recalled the observer status of Belarus, and the decision on granting the status of dialogue partners to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Nepal.
"But the expansion of the accession of such authoritative states as India and Pakistan extends the potential field of activity, even in other plans. It is a structure where the states are united with their own interests, their own policies, but they are ready to combine their efforts on the basis of the SCO in the name of the realization of common interests. These common interests need to be joined, to be united, to ensure their conjugation and cooperation," the Special Representative said.
Among the major outcomes of the summit, Khakimov identified the SCO Development Strategy until 2025 as "a very serious, solid document."
He called the Ufa Declaration "the quintessential assessment of approaches of the SCO member states to the current situation in the world and in the region, and in relation to cooperation in the SCO framework."
An agreement on cooperation and coordination on border issues was also signed, a Program of Cooperation to combat terrorism, extremism and separatism for three years, which will be built as the work of the regional anti-terrorist structure, and all the member-states of the SCO.
"The member states were resolving these issues with a strong desire to fully realize our plans. It is necessary to consider how we build our work to implement the strategy. With regard to the Ufa Declaration, it is quite simple, there are specific measures, specific objectives and specific approaches. But in other areas it is necessary to work more precisely. It is giving even greater impetus to economic cooperation, including the creation of a financial mechanism. Our task is to look closely at the existing options and identify the best options for creating a special financial mechanism of the SCO."
