Russia Rules Out SCO May Become Military Alliance Like NATO

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has no intention to become a military alliance similar to NATO, as it is primarily a regional and economic organization, Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The comment comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that India and Pakistan — de facto nuclear weapons states – may join the organization at the upcoming SCO summit in the Russian city of Ufa scheduled for July 9-10.

“SCO is not NATO, I’d like to stress, and it is not going to turn into NATO. SCO is primarily a regional and economic organization,” Ivanov said in an interview with Sergey Brilev, host of the "Vesti v Subbotu" (Saturday News) television show.