Acting Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov, following the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting, spoke about how the expansion of the organization was progressing.
The ministers reviewed applications to obtain a member state, an observer country and a dialogue partner of the SCO statuses.
“We have made significant progress on this issue,” said Vladimir Norov. “As part of the upcoming SCO summit in Samarkand in September, it is planned to sign a memorandum of commitment for Iran, which opens a direct path to full membership of this country in the SCO.”
Memorandums are expected to be signed on granting the status of SCO dialogue partner to three countries - Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. “Thus, the legal registration of their participation in the SCO in the specified format is completed,” Vladimir Norom noted.
The ministers also supported the applications of Bahrain and the Maldives for the status of SCO dialogue partners. Relevant decisions will be signed during the SCO summit in Samarkand.
The parties are also actively studying the application of Belarus for full membership in the organization.
As previously reported Acting Foreign Minister, the organization will have to develop consolidated approaches to the issue of granting Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal observer status in the SCO.
“There is a common understanding that adding new members to the SCO family will give a significant impetus to multifaceted interaction in the field of ensuring regional security, the development of trade, investment and industrial cooperation, and will contribute to the further development of a huge transport and transit potential in the space of the organization,” Vladimir Norov concluded.
