India, Pakistan Most Likely to Become SCO Members Friday

SCO Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev said India and Pakistan will join the organization after all paperwork is completed.

UFA (Sputnik) – India and Pakistan will become members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) later on Friday if they accept all 28 basic SCO documents and if the heads of state of the current members approve of their admittance into the organization, SCO Secretary-General Dmitry Mezentsev said.

"Today, if the decision is accepted by the heads of [SCO member] states, will be marked as the stage that these countries [India and Pakistan] joined in with the 28 basic SCO documents," Mezentsev told journalists in Ufa.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that India and Pakistan’s joining the SCO would help the two countries improve their bilateral relations.

The SCO is a political, military and economic alliance comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Together they account for some 60 percent of Eurasia’s territory and a quarter of the world’s population.

Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have SCO observer status. India and Pakistan formally applied to join SCO in September 2014.

The annual SCO summit is underway in the Russian city of Ufa and will conclude later in the day.