Beijing: India is likely to attain full
membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) within a year,
Secretary-General of the six-member political, economic and military alliance
led by China and Russia has said.
“For almost a year, we held consultations with top
representatives from India. To become a full member of the SCO, the applicant
states should adopt all the documents in accordance with the procedures in this
country,” Rashid Alimov, the Secretary-General, said yesterday at the SCO
headquarters in Beijing. “Keeping all the required documentation in mind, a
concrete date cannot be set in this regard. It may take six months or a year,”
Alimov said.
At the Tashkent summit on June 23-24, India will
inch a step closer to obtaining full SCO membership, with the signing of a
memorandum on the commitments of applicant states.
While China may be blocking India’s bid to join the
coveted NSG club, the prospect of its neighbour joining the six-member SCO,
often touted as a counterweight to Western alliances, seems promising to the
Secretary-General.
India, which has observer status, applied in 2014
for SCO membership, that is expected to allow the country greater access to
energy resources in Central Asia and more say in key security initiatives in
the Asia-Pacific region.
The SCO summit held in Ufa in Russia last year
approved inclusion of India and Pakistan to the list. Calling both India and
Pakistan countries with “deep history”, Alimov said that the decision to
include both nations was a well-thought-out one. India and Pakistan are
expected to be elevated as regular members.
The SCO currently has six member states — China,
Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with Afghanistan,
India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers, and Belarus, Turkey and Sri
Lanka as dialogue partners.
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