India, Pakistan to gain from 'Shanghai Spirit'

After being observers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for 12 years, India and Pakistan were admitted as full members to the bloc at the SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Friday. In principle, their membership was approved at the 2015 SCO summit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. During the last two years, doubts were raised over the Indian-Pakistan rivalry contaminating the SCO's "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual respect, equality, respect for diverse civilizations and the common pursuit of shared development.

In the past 12 years, however, the roles of India and Pakistan as SCO observers convinced the bloc that the India-Pakistan rivalry would not have a negative impact on the SCO's stature and structures. Apparently, the two countries have embraced the Shanghai Spirit, and the six original SCO member states decided to induct them as full members of the bloc.

The first expansion of the SCO in 16 years was accompanied by the smooth proceedings of the 2017 summit, especially the successful adoption of the Astana Declaration and the Convention on Combating Terrorism, which show that doubts over India and Pakistan having a negative impact on the Shanghai Spirit could be misplaced.