ASTANA, 3 July (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has arrived in Kazakhstan's capital Astana to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko is expected to have a number of meetings and negotiations with foreign counterparts during the summit. Heads of several states and international organizations have already arrived in Astana. Among them are the leaders of Russia, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and the UN secretary-general.
The international forum will include a session of the SCO Heads of State Council as well as an SCO+ meeting involving leaders of observer states, distinguished guests, and heads of international organizations. The meeting will focus on “Strengthening multilateral dialogue - the pursuit of sustainable peace and development.”
Completing the procedure for Belarus’ accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a member state will be the main item on the summit’s agenda for Belarus.
In his speech during the summit Aleksandr Lukashenko is expected to touch upon the most significant directions in the organization’s work and the contribution Belarus is ready to make to the accomplishment of common tasks.
Participants of the SCO Heads of State Council session will discuss matters concerning further improvement of the integration association’s work with a view to strengthening and deepening multilateral interaction in new conditions. They will also take a look at current international and regional affairs in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization region.
An Astana declaration is expected to be passed during the session in addition to over 20 various decisions and statements concerning various spheres of cooperation.
Belarus views the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as an international platform to promote cooperation in countering terrorism, extremism, organized crime and drug trafficking. Belarus is in favor of strengthening the economic dimension of the SCO as the most important factor of stability in the Eurasian region.
Belarus became a dialogue partner in the SCO in 2010 and an observer state in 2015. Following the SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Samarkand on 16 September 2022, a document was signed to launch the process of Belarus' accession to the organization as a full-fledged member. As part of this process, Belarus has acceded to more than 40 treaties.
The SCO states accounted for 70.4% of Belarus' trade in 2023 and 71.4% in January-April 2024.
Along with Aleksandr Lukashenko, the summit will be attended by the heads of state and government of Kazakhstan, India, Iran, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Qatar, the UAE, Türkiye and Turkmenistan, as well as the SCO secretary-general and the director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.
The summit will also be attended by the UN secretary-general and heads of international organizations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Islamic Organization for Food Security.
Currently, the SCO has nine member states - India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Thus, after the completion of the admission procedure, Belarus will become the tenth member of the SCO.
There are three observer states - Afghanistan, Belarus (since 2015) and Mongolia, and 14 dialogue partners - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Sri Lanka.
Kazakhstan is the SCO chair in 2023-2024. China will assume the SCO chairmanship following the Heads of State Council meeting in Astana.
