SCO chief: Belarus’ contribution to SCO is recognized by all SCO members

Belarus’ contribution to the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization over the years is recognized and appreciated by all SCO members, SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming told the media after the meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk on 9 March, BelTA has learned.

"The contribution that Belarus has made to the organization over the years is recognized and appreciated by all member states," the secretary general emphasized.

"The Belarusian side pays great attention to accession to the SCO [as a full member] and the completion of this procedure," he continued. In June of last year, after Belarus’ official request to join the SCO, all members of the organization, with the coordinating role of the secretariat, began this work and completed it in two and a half months. At the summit in Samarkand in September 2022, it was decided to give a green light to the accession procedure. "It was unprecedented in terms of the speed of decision-making," Zhang Ming said. "This speak of the mutual trust of the SCO member states in Belarus and appreciation of the fact that Belarus shares the values and principles of the SCO. Over the years the country, being an observer country, has played a very important role in cooperation with the SCO.”