Russia, China back India’s application for full-fledged SCO membership - Lavrov

BEIJING, February 2. /TASS/. Russia and China back India’s application for full-fledged membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO, a regional security group), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday after a meeting with his Indian and Chinese counterparts in the RIC format (Russia, India, China). "We have discussed the course of preparation for the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] and SCO summits that will be held in July in Ufa," Lavrov said. He said joint initiatives for the meetings had been discussed as well. "The support by Russia and China of India’s application for full-fledged SCO membership has been confirmed," the top Russian diplomat said. The SCO’s current members are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been granted the observer status. In September 2014, Pakistan and India filed official requests to join the SCO. Iran is also seeking full-fledged membership of the organization. Read more