Rules to be met, says Russia, as new hopefuls await security bloc membership

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. Hopefuls Iran, India and Pakistan have rules to meet before observer status can be turned into full-fledged membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Russia’s Security Council head said on Tuesday. Applications had been received from the three states, alongside Belarus seeking observer status and that of dialogue partner requested by Azerbaijan and Armenia, Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev told an SCO gathering. In comments associated with potential new admissions, Patrushev highlighted "the need to raise global SCO credibility and strengthen it as a full-fledged international organisation". This was a top priority for Russia’s presidency of the group this year, he told colleagues. Russia, China and four Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - formed the SCO in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neighbouring Afghanistan. Read more