ASTANA: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said it is a historic day today as he began his address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Friday. 

The SCO summit is being held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. 

In the summit, Pakistan will become a permanent member of the six-member SCO, along with India. 

With the inclusion of Pakistan and India, the SCO will have a total of eight states as permanent members ? after China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Other observer states and governments and international organisations are also part of the group.

The group will then represent nearly half of the world?s population after the inclusion of the subcontinental neighbours.