India likely to get full membership of SCO next month

India is likely to be granted "full membership" of the strategically-important Shanghai Cooperation Organisation soon, with the draft for the proposal having been cleared by foreign ministers of the member states.
The draft will be presented to the Heads of member states, who will take a final call in the SCO meeting next month, Bakhtiyer Khakimov, Special Representative of the Russian President for SCO affairs, today said.
The "draft" to grant full membership to India and Pakistan was taken by foreign ministers of SCO members in Moscow yesterday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Ufa in Russia next month to attend the SCO summit.

"The Foreign Ministers of SCO approved draft of the decision of the Heads of the States. It marked the beginning of the procedure to let India and Pakistan join the SCO. This document will be presented to the Heads of the States for their approval. After that it will come into force.
"Approval of such a decision, if that takes place and this is the suggestion of the foreign ministers, would mean the beginning of the negotiation process involving technical and financial details of the country joining SCO," Khakimov said in a press briefing through video-conferencing from Moscow.

He added that before acquiring the membership, the applicant state has to sign over 27 documents and fulfil the criteria.

"This is quite a complicated process. In accordance to the SCO document, the applicant state has sign the agreement within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation, including its charter.
"Overall, there are 27 such documents. There are different stages, including the basic documents that have to be ratified," he said.
SCO is an intergovernmental organisation founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001 by six countries - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
India, Pakistan, Iran, Mongolia and Afghanistan are observer states in the organisation.