From:
Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date:
Thu Jun 14 2001 - 10:12:01 EDT
SHANGHAI FIVE TO BECOME INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION -
RUSSIAN FOREIGN
MINISTRY
MOSCOW. June 13 (Interfax) -
At an upcoming summit on June 15-16,
the Shanghai Five
"will transform into a full-scale international
organization," sources with the Russian Foreign Ministry
told Interfax
on Wednesday.
They said at the top level
meeting in Shanghai that the five
countries (Russia,
China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan) will
be
joined by Uzbekistan, which as a full-fledged member of the
organization will sign the final Shanghai Declaration on
the creation of
a Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Sources said in reply to
Interfax questions that the question of
the organization's
expansion will apparently be debated after its
founding
documents - the Charter and Rules - have been worked out.
Sources reported that these
papers are to be prepared for the
organization's summit to
be held in Moscow in 2002.
Asked by Interfax which
states are interested in Shanghai Five
activities, sources
named India and Pakistan. However, they said "no
statements of India's readiness to join the Shanghai Five
have come
forth."
Meanwhile, Pakistan "has
been more explicitly interested in
Shanghai Five
activity," entry into that organization included.
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