MINSK, 26 April (BelTA) - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is looking forward to welcoming Belarus as full member, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the meeting of the defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states in Astana, Kazakhstan, TASS reports.
"It is encouraging that the number of members continues to increase. We welcome the Islamic Republic of Iran's membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and expect that Belarus will become a new member of the SCO in the near future," Sergei Shoigu said.
The head of the Russian defense ministry is convinced that "this is important for security in the SCO space and will give an additional impetus to the joint work of the defense ministries of the SCO member states.”
Earlier, when addressed the 7th Belarusian People's Congress President Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which Belarus is expected to join as a full member in the summer is gaining weight.
"The SCO is about an equal dialogue. All those who are tired of American hegemony, including the countries of Latin America, the Global South, look at this organization with respect,” the president said.
The president believes that the SCO and BRICS are “the world's progressive majority”. “They present a challenge to the ideology of global unification. The place of Belarus is exactly there, next to the nations representing different cultures but committed to peace and development," the president said.
