MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia hopes that India and Pakistan will become full-fledged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the next SCO summit to be held in 2017 in Kazakhstan, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday.
"The decision by the [SCO] heads of state to approve the memorandum on the India and Pakistan chairmanships aimed to obtain their SCO member-state status is expected soon. These documents and memorandums will be signed by the foreign ministers of SCO member states, SCO Secretary General and by the authorized representatives of the applicant countries," Ushakov said.
"Thus, the process of accepting India and Pakistan to the SCO enters its final stage, and we expect that India and Pakistan will finally be accepted to the SCO at the next summit which will be held in Kazakhstan, Before that, they will have a year to accede to all the [SCO] documents that make up the legal base of the organization," Ushakov said.
