Putin calls for enhancing credibility & clout of SCO

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for enhancing the credibility and clout of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as an association of greater Asia for economic development and cooperation among the member states.

Putin made the remarks during a meeting with the SCO heads of government in the Kremlin after their two-day sessions, chaired by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

“We all share a common goal: to enhance the credibility and clout of the SCO as one of the largest regional associations on the Eurasian continent, and indeed globally. And governments, naturally, have a special role in establishing concrete practical work and expanding the multifaceted cooperation of the organisation’s member states,” Putin said. According to him, the SCO could play a more significant role not only in deepening sectoral cooperation but also in creating a favourable atmosphere on the shared continent for stable, progressive growth and multifaceted economic interaction, as well as, in practical terms, facilitating the coordination of the numerous integration projects being implemented in Eurasia.

“This is precisely the goal of Russia’s concept of a greater Eurasian partnership, which entails a harmonious combination of integration processes within the Eurasian Economic Union, China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and many other similar projects in which SCO countries

participate,” he said.