Procedure for Belarus’ accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be launched at the organization’s summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing. TASS reports.
She noted that at the summit it is also planned to sign a memorandum of commitment of Iran for obtaining the status of a state member of the SCO. This will allow Tehran to join the founding documents and international treaties of the organization. In addition, memorandums have been prepared to formalize the status of dialogue partners for Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the process of granting dialogue partnerships to Bahrain, the Maldives and a number of other countries will also begin.
The SCO summit is scheduled for September 15-16 in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). Earlier, the authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic also announced that the project for construction of China — Kyrgyzstan — Uzbekistan railway would be officially launched at the summit.
To date, the SCO includes Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Observer states are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, partner countries — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka. In addition, many states have recently expressed their desire to join the SCO.
