Document on SCO membership criteria practically ready

ALMATY (Itar-Tass) - A document on the criteria of accession
of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is practically ready,
Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday, adding that a number
of states are currently seeking SCO membership.
"The issue of the SCO expansion is among the topical ones, it reflects
the interest of other states to its work," Lavrov said after talks with
his Kazakh counterpart Yerzhan Kazykhanov.
"There is a group of states, which are seeking full-fledged membership
in the organization, there is another category of countries, i.e. those
seeking to proceed from the observer status to that of a permanent member
or to join the SCO in other formats, such as a partner in dialogue," he
said.
"All applications are considered," he stressed. "A meeting of the SCO
heads of state in Astana will consider a document, drafted by experts and
foreign ministers, on the criteria of cooperation with and accession of
the organization. The document is practically ready, we will consider it
tomorrow [at a meeting of the SCO foreign ministers] and will submit for
consideration of presidents in Astana."