China: SCO prohibits Pakistan, India to bring in hostility

Beijing: Welcoming India and Pakistan into the SCO, China on Thursday dismissed apprehensions that their differences could disrupt the unity of the grouping saying its charter strictly prohibits members to bring their bilateral hostility into the organisation.

“As a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), we are very happy about the membership of India and Pakistan,” China’s assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou said at a ceremony at the SCO headquarters here to formally admit the two nations as new members of the grouping.

China, a dominant member of the now eight-member group, hosts the headquarters of the organisation.

The SCO headquarters held a ceremony on Thu-rsday to hoist the flags of India and Pakistan.

Indian ambassador to China Vijay Gokhale and his Pakistan counterpart, Masood Khalid, attended the ceremony which included jointly beating a huge SCO cooperation drum heralding the admission of their respective countries into the grouping.

India and Pakistan were formally admitted as members at Kazakh-stan capital Astana at the SCO summit held on June 8-9.

China, Russia and Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan besides India and Pakistan are the members of the grouping. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are the observers.

China takes over the rotating Presidency of the group this year from Kazakhstan.

Mr Kong, who attended the ceremony, in a brief chat with reporters alla-yed apprehensions aired by the state-run Chinese media that entry of India and Pakistan could disrupt the unity of SCO.

“In the charter of the SCO there is a clause that the hostility between the bilateral relations should not be brought to the organisation. I believe both the countries will abide by the charter of the organisation,” he said.

“SCO has its own rules of procedures. We hope that those rules can be abided by all member states,” he said.