BEIJING, Feb 1: Pakistan has qualified to become a member of the key regional security grouping in Central Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an official of the SCO Secretariat said here on Sunday.
"We believe Pakistan has proved its credentials as a frontline state in the war against terrorism and its presence would add to the strength of the organization," the official told APP.
He said he hoped the member countries China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan would support Pakistan's request for membership when it would formally come up under consideration.
Normalization of India-Pakistan relations is a healthy development, further expanding the structural network of SCO, the official added. Pakistan applied for SCO membership in September 2000, and up till now its application was pending for consideration. Initially, Pakistan's request faced some opposition from the member states on the issue of terrorism.
However, in recent years Pakistan firmly stood against terrorism and played a major role promoting peace and security in the region. It has put Pakistan in a strong position to get the membership, he said.
"We welcome cooperation of any country willing to abide by the aims and principles of Shanghai Six and whose joining might be beneficial for peace and development," said an official of the Chinese Foreign office.
President Pervez Musharraf during his recent visit to China also discussed with the Chinese leadership, the issue of Islamabad's application for SCO membership.
According to diplomatic sources, Beijing is eager to include Pakistan in SCO - one of whose key goals is fighting terrorism and religious extremism. When contacted, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said the expansion of the SCO has not been decided as yet, although a number of countries - including India and Pakistan - hope to join it.
The SCO, she said is still at an initial stage and is faced with a lot of work concerning the development of its mechanisms. "Therefore its members have decided not to admit new members for the time being," said Zhang, adding that it will follow the principle of openness and accept more members in the future.
The diplomatic sources however, indicated that the question of SCO's expansion is likely to come under consideration at the fourth summit meeting scheduled to take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan around the middle of the year.
Analysts here observe that Pakistan's presence in the six- nation SCO will allow it to deepen security and economic ties with the resource-rich Central Asian region as well as reinforce its ties individually with each of the countries.
The SCO is expected to discuss new membership rules at its next meeting. The SCO Secretariat was established in Beijing last month. Its main functions are to provide organizational and technical guarantees for the SCO's activities, to participate in the research and implementation of documents of various departments and set forth suggestions for the organization's annual budget.
Zhang Deguang, a former vice-foreign minister in China's government was appointed the first secretary-general of the SCO. Prior to the inauguration ceremony, the SCO foreign ministers held an ad hoc meeting, exchanging views and putting forward suggestions on the organization's development and preparations for the forthcoming summit meeting in 2004.-APP