THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION (SCO) AND INDIAN AND PAKISTANESE MEMBERSHIP

The SCO is now dominated by two powers, Russia and China, and also includes the Central Asian Republics Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Those were the original six members when the group was founded in 2001. Russia's interest in SCO expansion is relatively obvious: in the wake of the collapse of its relations with the West, the Kremlin is eager to make it appear that it doesn't need Europe or the U.S.