Narendra Modi will arrive here today on a three-day visit to attend the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits. He is likely to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping. An announcement with regard to India's membership of the six-nation grouping of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is expected during the SCO summit on July 9-10. A top Russian official on Tuesday said the process of India's membership will be completed by next year, along with that of Pakistan, to make it an eight-member body. As of now, India has observer status in the 19-year-old grouping whose focus is on boosting connectivity, counter- terrorism cooperation, bolstering cooperation in energy sector, enhancing trade and dealing with drug trafficking. India was made an observer in 2005 and it applied for membership last year. Pakistan also is an observer and is likely to be made a member. "India and Pakistan are not joining the SCO tomorrow. The process of engaging them is beginning," Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said. He said their admission demands the coordination of a working memorandum and the two countries also need to join 28 key documents of the group. "After that, as we hope, the membership of these two countries in the SCO will be finalised and we will be able to talk about our Group of Eight participants," he told Rossiya 24 TV channel. Modi will attend the SCO summit, making it the first time that an Indian Prime Minister participates at SCO summit.
