“The SCO is developing too and this, in our opinion, is the main outcome of the SCO-line meeting in Ufa – [the fact] that we are opening the process of engaging new members to this organization,” Ushakov said in an interview with RIA Novosti, RT and VGTRK.
The presidential aide stressed that India and Pakistan are not joining the SCO “tomorrow.”
“The process of engaging them is beginning… they need to coordinate the working memorandum through the SCO secretariat, then they need to join 28 documents that have been agreed and serve as founding for the SCO," Ushakov said.
"After that, we hope that on the next summit in India the membership of these two countries will be finalized."
Ushakov also expressed hope that the SCO format will continue to expand in the future.
The SCO is a political, military and economic alliance that includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have observer status in the organization.
