The expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a natural process, the organization’s secretary general Zhang Ming said on May 10. According to him, within the framework of the summit of foreign ministers in GOA, memorandums of consent were signed on obtaining the status of dialogue partners with the UAE, Myanmar, Kuwait and the Maldives.
“Thus, the SCO now has 14 dialogue partners,” Zhang Ming is quoted as saying. RIA News.
Now the organization includes eight countries, including Russia. Iran, Belarus, Mongolia, Afghanistan have observer status. As the SCO Secretary General explained, Iran and Belarus are in the process of joining the SCO.
The procedures for granting Bahrain the status of a dialogue partner have now been completed. The next step will be the signing of an appropriate memorandum, the date has not yet been determined, he added.
Previously, Zhang Ming urged do not compare SCO with NATO. According to the Secretary General, the activities of the organization are aimed at cooperation and strengthening of ties between the participating countries, and not at confrontation with other states.
The SCO was founded in 2001 by the leaders of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The organization is not a military bloc, on its agenda are not security issues, but topics related to economic cooperation, the fight against drug trafficking, and the strengthening of cultural ties.
