On Friday, with the full membership granted to India and Pakistan, the SCO entered into a new phase of its history.
According to a report by EFE News Agency of Spain, after the establishment of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in 2001, for the first time in this organization the countries of South Asia have joined.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that India and Pakistan have a new stage now to overcome their differences.
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the involvement of two new members has given new development to the organization and will further strengthen its relevance at international level.
The SCO has opened its doors for the new application and Iran will be considered as the next candidate, which Russia supports, while some members of the organization are opposing it.
Najarbayev, a staunch friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that involving new members are essential for the organization, although they did not name any particular country.
Like Iran, Afghanistan has also come into the role of observer in the organization and after getting rid of internal conflicts it can join the organization.
Putin said that it is clear that the military solution to the Afghan conflict is not possible. He said that Russia and other members of the SCO support a political solution based on the agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgents.
He said that the SCO should cooperate with the United Nations and other international organizations so that the drug smuggling from Afghanistan could be restrained.
At the same time, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani supported the strategy of SCO to deal with terrorism and drug trafficking and said that it is possible to eradicate the presence of terrorists from Afghanistan.
In addition to the final manifesto of Astana, the leaders of the SCO signed 10 other documents, including a conference to deal with fundamentalism and a manifesto for a joint fight against international terrorism.
Pointing to militant threats, Putin said that the eyes of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization is on the rise in Central Asian countries and South Russia.
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi said that joining India at SCO will give new momentum to the fight against terrorism in the region.
At the same time, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the anti-terrorism initiative of the organization would prove to be helpful in improving the security of Pakistan.
After the Astana Summit, China will chaired the SCO under the rotating method and will host the next meeting in 2018.
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