SCO exerts positive influence on world situation: Vladimir Putin

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has a positive influence on the world situation, said Russian President VladimirPutin.

Putinmade the remarks during an interview with the head of the China Media Group Shen Haixiong in Moscow, Russia at the end of May.

Putinsaid it is an obvious fact that the SCO has become a global organization, considering its members' contributions to the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

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"After India and Pakistan officially joined the organization and formally started their work, it is clear that the SCO has become a global organization. This is an obvious fact. As you can see, the SCO member states account for one-fourth of the world's GDP, 43 per cent of the world's population, and 23 per cent of the global land territory. These are all tremendous resources and very impressive," saidPutin.

The Russian president added that the rapid economic growth in some SCO member states will continue to provide new drivers to the world economy.

"In addition, there is the rapid growth of Asia's economy, especially China and India's economic gains, and Russia will also strive to provide new economic growth drivers to ensure the growth we need. This, along with our military potential, is a tremendous force. We, of course, do not intend to rival with other countries, but to protect the comprehensive, multifaceted cooperation among us [SCO members] and with other nations, to create the necessary conditions for such cooperation, no matter where or on which continents these countries are located," saidPutin.

Uniting the strong powers of these nations will undoubtedly become an important factor promoting our own development, as well as influencing international situations, saidPutin, who believes such influence will be positive.

This year, the SCO summit will be held in the coastal city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province from June 9 to 10.Putinsaid he would like to taste the seafood and famous beer in Qingdao.

"I like seafood and beer, but I think I will not drink too much. I'd like to have a try, and I will definitely see to that," he said.

The SCO was founded in 2001. It is an inter-governmental organization that comprises eight member states, namely China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.