
MINSK, 8 September (BelTA) – Belarus is important for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), political analyst and lecturer at the faculty of economics of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Farhad Ibragimov said on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.
According to him, Belarus consistently pursues a sovereign foreign policy, and its membership in the SCO directly indicates that it is a sovereign country.
"Within the SCO, countries unite to pursue their own foreign policies and develop economic models that differ from those of the Western world," Farhad Ibragimov stressed.
Explaining the importance of the SCO for Belarus and vice versa, he noted that Belarus is the only classic European state in terms of both geography and mentality that is a member of the SCO. Other member states are either located at the junction of Europe and Asia or entirely in Asia.
Belarus’ membership in the SCO adds additional credibility to the organisation, the expert believes.
Moreover, Belarus has its own proposals: President Aleksandr Lukashenko has repeatedly voiced them at various SCO-related events. These proposals could be useful to the organisation as a whole.