SCO highly appreciates the contribution of Belarus

Belarus intends to fulfil the procedures for joining the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation by the Delhi summit in June, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming in Minsk

“For us to become a full member of the organisation, we need to carry out certain legal procedures. We must join the decisions taken by the SCO earlier. We have set ourselves an ambitious goal to complete this work this year, before the Delhi summit. It’s a fast pace, a serious pace. But if you support us, it will be a good example for others. Moreover, being an observer, we were seriously preparing to join the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. Therefore, we will definitely be able to meet the deadline, before we meet again in Delhi in June,” the President stated.

Photo by BELTA

Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked Zhang Ming and the entire SCO secretariat for the work they are doing with regard to Belarus, which was actually accepted into the family of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation at the last summit in Samarkand. Then it was decided to give a green light to Belarus’ accession to the SCO.
Later, in a conversation with reporters, Shanghai Co-operation Organisation Secretary General said that the Belarusian path to joining the SCO can be called unprecedented. Zhang Ming recalled that Belarus officially applied for accession to the SCO in June 2022, and after only 2.5 months at the summit in Samarkand, it was decided to start the procedure for the Republic of Belarus to join the organisation, “It was unprecedented in terms of the speed of decision-making. This speaks 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 co-operation with the SCO.”
Under the chairmanship of India, all SCO member countries discussed and considered this matter. At the moment, discussion and consideration is still underway, Zhang Ming added, “I would like to note that the contribution that the Belarusian side has made to the organisation over the years is recognised and appreciated by all member states.”

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by