Pakistan reiterates call for SCO full membership

Pakistan Friday reiterated its call for a full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during a visit by the group's Secretary General Dimitry Mezentsev to Islamabad, officials said.

Pakistan currently holds the SCO observer status together with four other countries comprising its neighbours Afghanistan, India, and Iran as well as Mongolia, Xinhua reported.

A top Pakistani diplomat told the visiting SCO secretary general that the country has "exceptionally strong credentials" to become a full member of the SCO which groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry underlined that Pakistan's membership would bring the SCO a step closer to achieving its vision of regional economic cooperation because of its deep rooted historical and cultural links and strong economic and strategic complementarities.

Chaudhry mentioned that Pakistan fully endorsed SCO's ideals and objectives for durable peace in the region, the foreign ministry said.