MINSK, 1 August (BelTA) – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to China Yuri Senko gave his take on how Belarus' role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will change after the country becomes its full-fledged member as he spoke to the media on 1 August, BelTA has learned.
The ambassador recalled that Belarus' steps towards the SCO began in 2010 with the status of a partner of the organization. In 2015 the country became its observer. “It's been 12 years since we are participants in this process, we have attended all the events. Today we have declared our readiness to become full members of the SCO. All SCO member countries supported the idea of Belarus' joining the SCO. I think this September in Samarkand we will witness the decision to start the whole accession procedure,” he explained.
In his words, joining the SCO will let Belarus join all the projects of this multi-million international structure. “I am sure that we will be, as our president says, not just backup players, but full-fledged players in all formats, and that we will also bring our innovations and ideas to the SCO,” Yuri Senko stressed.
The SCO is a regional international association set up in June 2001. It includes nine countries: Russia, India, Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. An SCO summit is scheduled for 15-16 September 2022 in Samarkand, where the participants of the summit are expected to approve Belarus' accession to the SCO.
