Documents on commitments of India, Pakistan pave way for membership in SCO - Lavrov

TASHKENT, May 24. /TASS/. Signing memorandums on commitments of India and Pakistan pave a way for their full-fledged membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday. "We have prepared a massive package of documents for consideration of the leaders of SCO member states. The main political document will be the Tashkent declaration of SCO’s 15th anniversary," Lavrov said after the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of SCO member countries in Tashkent. "When an official decision was made in Ufa to launch the procedure of accession of India and Pakistan to SCO, draft memorandums were coordinated on commitments of Indian and Pakistani colleagues in the framework of joining corresponding conventions that exist in SCO and represent a requirement for all member stated," the foreign minister noted. "Signing these memorandums paves a way for full-fledged membership," he added. The Council of Foreign Ministers of SCO member countries meets today in Tashkent. In 2016, Uzbekistan chairs the organization, and the SCO summit will be held in Tashkent on June 23-24. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a permanent regional international association, the establishment of which was announced on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. The organization brings together Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. During the SCO summit in Ufa on July 9 and July 10 the start of the admission procedure for India and Pakistan was announced. The leaders of the SCO member-countries also decided to grant Belarus observer status, while Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal became dialogue partners. SCO priority spheres include joint fight against terrorism and extremism, cooperation in the spheres of education, energy, transport, and telecommunications. The total population of SCO countries is almost 1.6 billion people, and the total GDP of the member countries is $11.6 trillion. Read more