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Summary Russia and China want India and Pakistan to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated this after the talks between Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin and his Chinese counterpart Cheng Guoping.The sides called for accelerated SCO enlargement in keeping with the decisions of the Council of the SCO Heads of State made in Astana in June, the Ministry said here in a statement yesterday, referring to the admission of India and Pakistan as members and Afghanistan as an observer, and granting of the status of dialogue partner to Turkey.They coordinated the positions of the sides on further improvement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s activities in the light of preparations for a meeting of the Council of Heads of Government in St. Petersburg on November 7 and the SCO summit in China in the summer of 2012, it said.They also confirmed the readiness of Russia and China to interact effectively in ensuring security and stability in the SCO region, intensifying economic cooperation, primarily in the fields of transport, energy, science and technologies, in financing joint projects, and further facilitating humanitarian ties within the organisation, it stressed.No new admissions to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation were made at its summit in Astana (Kazakhstan) on June 14-15.The participants in the summit in Astana signed a memorandum on the obligations of the SCO Member States for acquiring the status of a SCO Member State.Last year, the SCO foreign ministers approved the draft regulation on new admissions.A number of countries, including India, Iran and Pakistan, have already stated their intention to join the SCO. However, the organisation has so far had no mechanism for new admissions.The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, an inter-governmental mutual-security organisation, was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.India, Pakistan, Mongolia and Iran have observer status in the SCO and Afghan participates in its meetings as a special guest.
