he Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which comprises the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan plus Russia and China, does not seek new members, Vitaly Vorobyov, the Russian president's envoy to the organization, said Monday.
"The SCO does not seek to increase its membership and the number of observers [India, Pakistan, and Iran]," Vorobyov said in a RIA interview. "These are not its priority plans. Moreover, displaying initiative is against the organization's principles."
Vorobyov said the six founding members made up the core of the organization, and they agreed that consolidating the core was the prime objective at the moment. Besides, the SCO is lacking relevant enlargement procedures, he added.
Vorobyov said the organization could cooperate with non-members via observers and all kinds of contact groups. Such an arrangement "would not impede the core's consolidation," cooperation would be based on definite terms and rules and would not influence decision-making within the SCO, he added.
Read the rest here.
So...what exactly does 'consolidation' mean in this context?
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