Russia for speeding up SCO expansion
Vladimir Radyuhin
YEKATERINBURG: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for speeding up paperwork to pave the way for the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
“It is necessary to expedite the drafting of a document defining rules for admission of new members to the SCO,” said Mr. Medvedev in his opening address at the SCO summit in Yekaterinburg on Tuesday.
“This work is going on; instructions have been issued, but we need to get this job done and come up with norms and procedures so that we can set the ball rolling,” the Russian leader said signalling impatience with the slow pace of the work. Russia has long favoured granting full membership to India, which received observer status in 2005 along with Iran and Pakistan. However, China has opposed India’s membership. Even though Mr. Medvedev said that all SCO members supported his demand for speeding up preparations for admitting new members, China’s President Hu Jintao made no mention of SCO expansion in his speech at the plenary session of the summit in Yekaterinburg.
President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon, in his address, called for completing all formalities for the admission of new members by the 10th anniversary of the SCO in 2011. Speaking at the summit, President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari reiterated his country’s wish to receive full membership in the SCO.
The SCO leaders set up a commission for working out admission rules at their previous summit in Dushanbe in August 2008.
The commission has since met three times and is reported to have circulated draft rules to member states — Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The Hindu : International : Russia for speeding up SCO expansion