The UAE and nine other countries want to join the SCO
Ten more countries, including the UAE, Syria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, want to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This was stated by two high-ranking informed sources close to the organizing committee of the association.
They clarified: the UAE was asked to immediately grant them the status of a member of the SCO, bypassing the bureaucratic procedure — this issue will be considered at the summit in Samarkand on September 15-16.
«As many as ten countries have asked to consider applications for increasing their status in the SCO. Among them are representatives of the Arab world: Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE. Moreover, the Emirates asked to grant them the status of members of the association immediately. Myanmar, Cambodia and Nepal want to leave Southeast Asia. From neighboring countries — Armenia and Azerbaijan. We see an unprecedented scale of interest in the SCO»
Currently, the SCO includes eight countries — India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia have observer status. The partner countries are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
«There is a consensus, albeit with some nuances, to grant observer status to Azerbaijan and Armenia, given that they have been SCO dialogue partners since 2016. There is a similar proposal in relation to Cambodia and Nepal. The procedure for Belarus’ admission to the SCO membership will also be initiated in Samarkand.»
Source: IZ.RU