The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a new group led by China and Russia, is not keen on seeking out new members, the Russian presidential representative with the group said in an interview to RIA-Novosti news agency.
"The SCO has no priority of enlargement, nor is it in the SCO's rules to show initiative" in this sense, Vitaly Vorobyov said late Monday, adding that the six member states "are united in the conviction that right now the most important thing is to consolidate their nucleus."
Moreover, in order to accept new members the group would need precise and well-outlined procedures which it so far lacks, Vorobyov pointed out.
The SCO comprises China, Russia and four strategic former Soviet republics in Central Asia, with India, Iran and Pakistan willing to join and granted formal observer status. It was this body that called early this year for the United States to set a date for the withdrawal of its military forces in Central Asia.