Upcoming SCO summit in Astana to be historic - Kazakh foreign minister
ASTANA. June 6 (Interfax) - The participants in an upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State plan to finalize the procedures for admitting India and Pakistan to the SCO and sign a number of documents, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said.
"The upcoming session of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization members will be of historic importance. A number of documents are expected to be adopted at this session. The heads of the SCO member countries will sign an Astana declaration," Abdrakhmanov told reporters in Astana on Tuesday.
In addition to that, the participants in the meeting intend to adopt a SCO convention on the fight against terrorism, he said.
The summit will also include narrow-format talks, which are expected to adopt a decision on finalizing the procedures for admitting India and Pakistan to the SCO and granting them full-fledged membership in this organization, the Kazakh minister said.
During the summit's expanded session, the heads of state will assess the situation in the SCO countries and will outline goals and prospects for the organization's development, he said.