Putin hopes India, Pakistan to be admitted to SCO in 2017

TASHKENT, June 24. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he hopes that India and Pakistan will be admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) maximally quickly - by the next SCO summit in Kazakhstan in 2017. The Russian leader said at a meeting of the SCO heads of state, "We hope that the partners will be able to pass the remaining procedures maximally quickly, by our next meeting in Kazakhstan. And now it is necessary to deal directly with the integration of India and Pakistan into the SCO working interaction mechanisms, such as the Council of the heads of government and regular meetings of the foreign ministers," Putin said. The president also said he hoped that the current summit will result in the adoption of the commitment memorandums with which India and Pakistan will have to comply for getting the SCO membership status. According to the Russian leader, the decision on the beginning of the procedure of accession of these countries to SCO was adopted at the organization’s last year’s summit in Ufa and it is now entering the final stage. Read more