The SCO as an organization is being increasingly seen by its member countries as an excellent tool for defusing tensions -- not just among themselves but with other nations as well. CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic is in Moscow to bring us the Russian perspective on the present and future of the organization.  

It was China and Russia that were at the foundation of the SCO from day one.

And their primary goal was to fight the terrorism and the threats that were emerging at unprecedented levels.

Although the SCO started to collaborate more and more economically among the member countries, military cooperation stayed in the picture. Here is the footage of recent joint military drills between China and Russia in the South China Sea. It is a regular sight, seen every year from the Baltic Sea to the South China Sea.

And experts in Moscow say the US is not happy about Russia's strategic partnership with China. According to them, by recent ostracising Russia, they actually aim at China because of its unstoppable economic development.

KONSTANTIN ZATULIN RUSSIAN STATE DUMA MP "It is obvious that the US is not happy with the fact that thousands of kilometers of the Russian-Chinese border is a border of friendship and collaboration, unlike what it was back in the 1960s and 1970s. Now China can develop without any fear that trouble could come from that side of the border."  

The strategic partnership between Russia and China is just short of a military alliance.

And according to a former Russian Army general -- now head of the Center for Strategic Studies of the SCO, Anatoliy Klimenko, the main reason for this is that neither China or Russia wants to intimidate anyone by doing so. But, as Klimenko pointed out, Article 9 of their strategic partnership agreement clearly allows for mutual military cooperation if one of the two countries come under threat. So, the goal of those two countries is not intimidation or threats toward anyone, but peace and collaboration -- and the SCO is seen as a vehicle for overcoming many internal frictions among the member countries.  

ANATOLIY KLIMENKO RUSSIAN ARMY LIEUTENANT-GENERAL "We can endlessly talk about the discrepancies among us, but we need to remember that we are the members of the same organization. And now we are not enemies, we are not adversaries. But we are the ones who need to resolve those discrepancies. Why are tensions increasing between the Pakistan and India? Resolve that please. You are the part of the same organization. China and India understood that, and they are working very successfully to resolve their mutual disputes."  

On the eve of the summit, two main topics are expected to be on the table.  

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC MOSCOW "The First one is the future direction of military collaboration between the SCO countries. And the second one is the expectations also shared by Moscow on India and Pakistan starting to work together on overcoming problems that the two countries have been facing for decades. Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Moscow."