CHOLPON-ATA, July 24. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) plans to unify the categories of dialogue partners and observers into a single SCO partner status, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"We have worked productively. This is part of the preparations for the SCO summit, which will take place this fall in Bishkek. Draft documents for leaders include the creation of a universal center for addressing new challenges and threats, as well as a center for combating drug crimes. We will also announce that current dialogue partners and observers will be merged into a single SCO partner category," Lavrov told reporters.

He pointed out that the SCO currently consists of ten members, 15 dialogue partners, and two observers. "These 17 countries will be reclassified as partners, I hope they will not object to that," the minister added.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an international organization established in 2001. Its members are Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Its dialogue partners include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Laos, and Sri Lanka. Observers are Afghanistan and Mongolia.