SCO's continued impact and appeal stems from it holding fast to the Shanghai Spirit

The 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on Wednesday and Thursday is set to further strengthen the pragmatic economic cooperation of the organization.

Leaders of not only SCO member states but also the observer states and dialogue partner countries will attend the summit, which is expected to produce some key initiatives aimed at reducing institutional trade and investment barriers to promote economic and trade cooperation, as well as some fruit documents on strengthening security collaboration and neighborhood relations featuring peace, stability and mutual trust.

By incorporating major players on the world stage such as India and Pakistan, and Iran over the past few years, the SCO brings together a wide range of interests and perspectives. The extended SCO family is spread across Asia, Africa and Europe, encompassing half of the world's population and accounting for about one-fourth of the global GDP.