LAVROV: SCO TO GRANT PARTNER STATUS TO 17 COUNTRIES

CHOPLON-ATA, JULY 24 /SRNA/ - The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation /SCO/ plans to merge the categories of dialogue partners and observers into a single SCO partner status, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"We worked productively. This is part of the preparations for the SCO summit, which will be held this autumn in Bishkek. The draft documents for the leaders include the creation of a universal centre for addressing emerging challenges and threats, as well as a centre for combating drug-related crime," Lavrov told reporters.

He announced that current dialogue partners and observers would be merged into a single category of SCO partners.

Lavrov reminded that the SCO currently consists of 10 member states, 15 dialogue partners and two observers.

"These 17 countries will from now on be partners, and I hope they will not object to that," Lavrov added.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation /SCO/ is an international organisation founded in 2001.

Its members are Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The dialogue partners are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Laos and Sri Lanka, while the observers are Afghanistan and Mongolia.