Russia hopes that India will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) soon. Currently it is an observer, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Indian counterpart Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna on Thursday, RIA Novosti reported.
"Russia stands for the rapid settlement of the issue of transferring India's observer status to SCO full membership," Mr Lavrov said. "This position was repeatedly made. We think that progress will be reached in this issue."
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a sub-regional international one which includes six countries, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan all of which have observer status.