Chinese President Xi Jinping (6th R, front) poses for a group photo with other leaders and guests ahead of the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, June 10, 2018.(Xinhua/Gao Jie)

MOSCOW, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have much room to strengthen their partnership in the security, economic and humanitarian fields, a Russian scholar who specializes in the SCO has said.

Igor Denisov, senior research fellow at the Center for East Asian and SCO Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, made the remarks as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is about to attend the 17th meeting of SCO heads of government in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe.

"The anti-terrorist component of the SCO has not lost its relevance. It is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the activity of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the SCO and possibly expand it through the inclusion of anti-drug issues," Denisov said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Chinese armored vehicles move forwards the target during the "Peace Mission 2007" anti-terror drill involving member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Chelyabinsk of Russia, Aug. 17, 2007. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

In his view, cooperation between the border control departments of the SCO countries is extremely important as well-protected borders will strengthen the security of the organization.

"The SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, in cooperation with other internationally recognized mechanisms, should continue its efforts to promote national reconciliation in Afghanistan," he said.

The solution to the problem of Afghan instability is clearly long overdue and at the moment it is one of the key threats to the security of the SCO countries, he said.

As for trade cooperation, Denisov said it is important for the SCO to participate more actively in building a fair world trade system, in which "there will be no place for unilateral actions of the strong and the subordination of the weak, no place for sanction wars and protectionism."

A cargo train leaves for Kazakhstan from Ganzhou, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 27, 2017. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

In formulating the main objectives of economic cooperation, Denisov believes that all participants should act in line with the common interests of the SCO.

"It is necessary to create a permanent mechanism for the coordination of national programs of scientific, technical and innovative development. The same approach can be used in creating road maps for trade and economic cooperation," he said.

Denisov said that along with large-scale projects, it is also necessary to launch smaller projects that improve local people's lives, for example, modernizing power grids and introducing technologies for forecasting emergency situations.

Fatima Kuchkarova from Uzbekistan (1st R) learns Taichi at Taiqing Temple in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, July 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

What's more, the scholar said cooperation in the humanitarian field is no less important as the SCO groups countries with different historical and cultural heritages, and populations with diverse nationalities and religions.

The SCO upholds the "Shanghai Spirit" that features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development.

"It is worth emphasizing that the 'Shanghai Spirit' itself fully meets the task of developing a global dialogue on the common civilizational and humanitarian problems of the modern world," Denisov said.