China welcomes entry of India ,Pak in SCO

Beijing, China June 16: A warm welcome was received yesterday.China has yesterday formally welcomed India and Pakistan into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.The country has dismissed the apprehensions raised by local people.They have feared that if two countries join the organization they would disrupt the unity of the regional alliance.

China's Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said that "as a founding member of the SCO, we are very happy about the membership of India and Pakistan". The minister also issued guidelines to two countries and said that the "SCO's charter prohibits countries to bring their bilateral differences into the affairs of the organization".

India and Pakistan have attended a ceremony held at SCO headquarters yesterday. Earlier both countries were inducted as formal members at the SCO summit held in Kazakhstan's capital Astana. Currently the organization includes members such as India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Finally, China believes that the addition of 2 new countries in the SCO will help the organization to develop and all the regions will prosper.