BELARUS OFFICIALLY JOINS SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION

By Noor Bakhtiar Ahmad

ASTANA (Kazakhstan), July 4 (Bernama) -- Belarus has officially joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), becoming the tenth member of the influential bloc.

At the SCO Summit in Kazakhstan’s capital on Thursday, the leaders of SCO member countries signed a resolution of the SCO Council of Heads of State, finalising the Eastern European nation’s admission and conferring full member status.

Welcoming Belarus into the SCO fold, host Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted the importance of the milestone in the presence of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

“Today at the summit we will make an important decision regarding the further expansion of the organisation.

“Your country (Belarus) has swiftly completed all necessary procedures for full membership in the SCO,” he said before the commencement of the signing documents for Belarus’s admission as a full member of the SCO.

Before the expansion, the SCO comprised China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Iran.

In his address, Tokayev said the SCO’s vital role over the past quarter century as a significant mechanism in international relations, contributing to sustainable growth and overall progress.

"Fruitful interaction in politics, security, economics, and culture among our countries sets the direction for the development of the entire Eurasian continent," he said.

"Through joint efforts in strengthening the Shanghai spirit and promoting Shanghai principles, we have transformed the SCO into one of the most influential and authoritative international structures. Thanks to the uniqueness and enormous potential of our association, global interest in it is steadily growing," he added.

-- BERNAMA