COLOMBO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a driver of peace, prosperity and stability across the region is growing, Indian experts have said.

The organization's multidimensional agenda marks a decisive step in institutional maturity and offers a fresh paradigm for global governance, they noted.

B. R. Deepak, a professor and the chair of the Center of Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, described the SCO as a "holistic yet distinctive regional institution," which he said is integrating security, economic and cultural cooperation within its framework.

Deepak highlighted the SCO's multidimensional approach, saying this allows the organization to address the interconnected issues of the region, such as security, development and cross-cultural communication.

He cited examples such as the SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) and Peace Mission joint military exercise, practical economic cooperation among Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) participating countries, and cultural initiatives, including the SCO university network.

Deepak believes that outcomes of the recent SCO Summit in Tianjin, China, which intensify cooperation in finance, energy, digitalization and education, are crucial to institutionalizing economic collaboration in the SCO.

The decision to establish an SCO development bank was achieved at the summit. Deepak said the bank is expected to mirror the success of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, providing financing without political preconditions.

"This would not only expand the organization's role but also strengthen its legitimacy as a long-term driver of peace, prosperity and development in the region," he said.

Mohammed Saqib, secretary general of the India-China Economic and Cultural Council, said that the SCO has become "indispensable" for the region's stability and prosperity, rooted in the Shanghai Spirit.

The Shanghai Spirit underpinning the SCO embodies the principles of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations, and pursuit of common development.

The SCO's strength lies in coordinating diverse interests, Saqib said. "It acts as a security facilitator through RATS, a platform for economic collaboration through the Belt and Road Initiative, and a cultural link through programs like the SCO University."

He noticed the SCO's records in countering terrorism, including extraditing over 200 suspects and seizing large caches of explosives, as well as helping stabilize the security situation in Afghanistan through the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group.

On the economic front, he pointed to initiatives such as the local currency settlement of transactions and infrastructure projects like the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.

Saqib underscored that setting up an SCO development bank and cooperation platforms on green industry, digital economy and energy could be "game-changers," unlocking long-stalled projects and advancing sustainable development.

These steps, when implemented, will represent a significant jump in the SCO's capacity to enhance the region's security and prosperity, he said.

Adding a perspective from the Global South, Atul Chandra, a researcher at the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, said that the SCO's unique value lies in its being both inclusive enough to shape outcomes and allow for disagreements.

He said the Tianjin summit was evidence of the group's desire to turn "multilateralism from rhetoric into tools." Supported by a development bank and cooperation platforms in green industry and digital economy, the SCO can finance small but high-impact projects, align standards for sustainable technologies, couple power markets, and promote academic and vocational mobility, Chandra noted.

"Concrete projects, interoperable rules, and people-to-people mobility -- this is how the SCO can deliver lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, harmony, and real friendship among our peoples," he added.

For Robinder Sachdev, founder president of The Imagindia Institute, the SCO's value lies not only in its strategic and economic roles but also in its contribution to shaping global governance through civilizational wisdom.

"No other global forum places culture, philosophy and civilizational harmony at the center of its identity in the way the SCO does," Sachdev said.

By embedding principles for peaceful coexistence and pluralism in its institutional design, the SCO provides "a new paradigm for international governance at a time of systemic turbulence," he noted. ■