India and Pakistan confirmed interest in becoming full-fledged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as the heads of governments meeting of the SCO countries concluded on Wednesday with the signing of a series of joint documents.
Addressing the SCO Conference in Kyrgyzstan‚ Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira welcomed the SCO’s decision to grant the status of observer state to Afghanistan and dialogue partner status to Turkey. He also demanded the status of a member country for Pakistan at the forum.
Praising the performance of the SCO, Kaira hoped the organisation would play an effective role in establishing peace and stability in the region.
The minister said Pakistan gave much importance to the SCO with regard to tackling terrorism as the regional countries were facing a constant threat of terrorism. “We are looking forward to beginning work with you as a full-fledged member,” he said.
Meanwhile, Indian Deputy Foreign Minister Sanjey Singh said, “We would be very happy to continue working in SCO as a full-fledged member as soon as the organisation makes a decision to expand.”
Earlier, the 11th heads of government meeting of the SCO opened on Wednesday morning with a focus on strengthening cooperation in economy and cultural exchanges within the framework of the SCO.
The heads of government of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan approved the organisation’s budget for 2013.
The participants also signed a statement on the SCO Development Fund, a joint communiqué and some SCO reports.
Meanwhile, the customs service heads of the SCO countries signed a memorandum of cooperation on protecting intellectual property rights and a protocol to the agreement on interaction in the provision of assistance in dealing with the consequences of emergencies.
Leaders from the six SCO members’ states – China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and SCO observer countries Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran, India and Afghanistan attended the meeting.
Nothing gonna be right even if SCO opens its door for Pakistan, until our internal matters particularly our state of war in Waziristan or other areas, are end and a new era of peace start, further this year we are at 33rd in most corrupt countries, this needs to be improved.
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