Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Afghanistan: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization will grant Afghanistan observer status and accept Turkey as a dialogue partner, Chinese President Hu Jintao said on 7 June.
Iran-Russia: Constructive cooperation between Iran and Russia will help bring peace and security to the region, President Ahmadi-Nejad said on 7 June during a meeting with Russian President Putin. The two met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Beijing.
Iran-Pakistan: Iran is ready to trade Iranian gas and electricity for Pakistani goods, President Ahmadi-Nejad said June 7, according to Iranian news reports.
Iran-China: Iran is ready to deliver oil to China by constructing pipelines through Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to meet China's long-term energy demands, President Ahmadi-Nejad said on 7 June.
Comment: The SCO sumit covered many central Asian security issues. The organization is emerging as the coordinating body for a growing, influential community of states. The member states have both competitive and divergent strategic interests, but their leaders agree on the need for regional stability so that no power vacuum emerges after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which international terrorists might exploit, and that there is no uncertainty about leadership or direction in the future.
Iran used it to show the limits of sanctions and that it is not internationally isolated.
Russia and China appear to have used the SCO meeting as the forum for displaying their intentions to take advantage of the US statements about the strategic tilt to East Asia. The message is that since the US is deemphasizing the Middle East and Central Asia, the Russians and Chinese, as continental powers, are prepared to step into leadership roles in both areas. This explains the attention to Afghanistan as well as the Russia proposal on Syria, below.....read more
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/nightwatch/2012/06/09/iran_to_build_oil_pipelines_through_afghanistan_and_pakistan/page/full/
