India to join Shanghai Cooperation Organisation within a year

India is to attain full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) within a year, Secretary General of the six-member political, economic and military alliance led by China and Russia has said, The Indian Express reports.

“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 on Monday at the SCO headquarters. 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.

“We have around 30 documents of this kind. The main document is about long-term partnership, cooperation, and good neighborhood. In Tashkent, we are expected to sign the document that will take India to the next stage in the process,” he said. He added that India will first have to accept all the documents that have been adopted by the SCO member states in the past 15 years which may take some time.