Beijing: India is likely to attain full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) within a year, Secretary-General of the six-member political, economic and military alliance led by China and Russia has said.
“For almost a year, we held consultations with top representatives from India. To become a full member of the SCO, the applicant states should adopt all the documents in accordance with the procedures in this country,” Rashid Alimov, the Secretary-General, said yesterday at the SCO headquarters in Beijing. “Keeping all the required documentation in mind, a concrete date cannot be set in this regard. It may take six months or a year,” Alimov said.
At the Tashkent summit on June 23-24, India will inch a step closer to obtaining full SCO membership, with the signing of a memorandum on the commitments of applicant states.
While China may be blocking India’s bid to join the coveted NSG club, the prospect of its neighbour joining the six-member SCO, often touted as a counterweight to Western alliances, seems promising to the Secretary-General.
India, which has observer status, applied in 2014 for SCO membership, that is expected to allow the country greater access to energy resources in Central Asia and more say in key security initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region.
The SCO summit held in Ufa in Russia last year approved inclusion of India and Pakistan to the list. Calling both India and Pakistan countries with “deep history”, Alimov said that the decision to include both nations was a well-thought-out one. India and Pakistan are expected to be elevated as regular members.
The SCO currently has six member states — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers, and Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka as dialogue partners.
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