The foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries are meeting in Tashkent, and the big news is that they are working on how to admit new members, reports RIA Novosti:
The foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have approved a project on the procedure for the adoption of new members, Uzbekistan's top diplomat said on Saturday.
"The document sets out the start of the process of forming a legal base for the expansion of the organization," Vladimir Norov said at a Tashkent meeting ahead of summit in June.
So, who could be next? Uzbekistan has been promoting Pakistani membership, and Iran has also expressed interest in joining. Could the SCO admit Pakistan and not India (which, like Pakistan, is currently an SCO observer)? Would the SCO want to take on the responsibility for collective defense of Iran? The full SCO summit is next month in Tashkent, should be interesting...
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
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