Kazakhstan hands over SCO presidency to China

    By Alexandra Zakharova
    China assumed the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) from Kazakhstan on Friday, in what Beijing claims will be the SCO’s “golden stage”.
    Chinese experts have praised the SCO countries’ readiness to arrive at a political accommodation on a wide array of pressing issues.
    Speaking at a recent SCO summit in Astana, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev touted his country’s rotating presidency in the SCO, which saw the adoption of a long-term anti-narcotics strategy along with other important documents.
    Some problems still persist, though, according to Moscow-based economics expert Sergei Luzyanin, who specifically cited the absence of a special SCO bank akin to that of the EU.
    “Kazakhstan’s rotating presidency saw the SCO’s ever-increasing economic clout, Luzyanin says, praising China’s role and singling out the implementation of a string of bilateral and trilateral economic projects in Central Asia. In this regard, developing collective economic collaboration is yet to be tackled,” Luzyanin concedes.
    “As for security issues, they remain bright on the SCO’s radar, he goes on to say, touting the SCO anti-terror center’s interaction with the Collective Security Treaty Organization and other international bodies. Such a partnership is of paramount importance given that the Afghan drug-trafficking shows no sign of abating,” Luzyanin concludes.
    Over the past couple of years, an array of countries has signaled their readiness to join the SCO, including India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Mongolia. Experts, however, remained downbeat on these countries’ accession to the SCO in the immediate future, specifically citing the necessity of joining almost 160 SCO agreements.
    They are echoed by U Dahwei, head of the Chinese Association of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, who points, as an example, to the EU, which has been repeatedly wary of accepting new members.
    In Moscow, CIS expert Alexander Karavayev warns of possible differences between SCO rookies, which he hopes will be able to reach a consensus on a string of issues pertaining to Afghanistan.
    “A possible accession of India, Pakistan and Iran to the SCO is fraught with political conflicts within the organization, Karavayev says, citing Afghanistan, which he claims would be the right option. Its entering the SCO could help boost our cooperation with the United States - something that would in turn add significantly to regional security, Karavayev concluded.
    Beijing has already indicated its intent to hammer out the SCO’s development strategy for the period of up to 2022. Also on the table will be fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism, as well as strengthening multilateral economic cooperation, the Voice of Russia said.