Belarus has become the tenth member of the bloc
Heads of state and government of SCO member states attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. © Sputnik / Sergey Savostyanov
Belarus has officially become a full-fledged member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an economic and security bloc covering most of Eurasia and accounting for more than 20% of global GDP.
Membership documents were signed during the opening of the organization’s summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday. The announcement was made by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, whose country is chairing the SCO in 2024. He noted that Belarus “completed all the necessary procedures on the way to full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in a short period of time.”
Founded in 2001, the SCO includes India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and now Belarus, with several other countries playing the role of observers.
The bloc’s goals are to strengthen relations between member states and promote cooperation in the political, economic, scientific, cultural, and educational fields.
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