The six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization approved memorandums on Friday to pave the way for India and Pakistan to join the organization.

Observers said the expansion would make the group more resilient in security and economic cooperation amid rising regional security concerns and gloomy global economic prospects.

In a speech at the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, President Xi Jinping suggested the organization should remain open and inclusive in expanding its membership.