However, the rationale for inviting both India and Pakistan to join is clear. The accession of India will increase SCO members' access to BRICS economies, and to invite India without Pakistan would damage China's status as an "all-weather friend" of Pakistan. In fact, such a development may allow for the development of common economic interests between India and Pakistan, which may help to defuse tension on the sub-continent.

Another issue with the SCO's expansion plan relates to Russia's role in the group. At the moment, no one sees anything sinister in Sino-Russian cooperation, whether bilaterally or within multilateral structures like the SCO. However, it is well known that Russian relations with the West are particularly tense at the moment. In this context, a merger with the CSTO - a Russian-dominated group - might be seen as taking sides in a dispute which is not relevant to the majority of SCO members.

One further point is the difficulties potentially caused by expansion. Quite apart from the different economic and strategic elements introduced thereby, there are administrative difficulties involved. Currently, the SCO's rules allow for any proposal to be defeated by the veto of a single member. Will a change to this system be proposed? And if not, how can the organization be prevented from descending into impotence as soon as anything at all contentious is put on the table? All these questions will need to be considered carefully.

How does the West see the future of the SCO? So far, there are no problems. The idea of overcoming the geographical, infrastructural and political difficulties which have bedevilled East-West trade for more than a millennium make perfect sense to us. The ancient Silk Road, established largely by the Chinese and Roman Empires, was hugely beneficial to both sides of the Eurasian landmass, and its restoration would be even more beneficial. We can have no objections if the collective security principles of the SCO are adjusted toward the formation of an anti-Western axis - after all, all nations are allowed to pursue their national interests, form alliances and reach agreements accordingly. But I am not sure that this would really further the original aims of the SCO, which began life as a perfectly sensible arrangement to create greater prosperity and security in a region seriously affected by recent change.

Thus there is no real need for the SCO to change its original role. The expansion of the region in which the organization operates will simply spread the benefits rather than dilute them.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/timcollard.htm

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