Secretary-General: SCO not planning to expand further

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is not actively seeking to increase the number of its members, the organization's Secretary-General, Zhang Ming told Kazinform, Report informs.

"At present, the question of which country might become the SCO's 11th member is not a priority on our agenda," Ming emphasized.

He went on to explain, "We have received applications for dialogue partner status from several countries, as well as requests from some existing dialogue partners to elevate their status to observers. All these matters are being discussed in the context of improving the organization's overall functioning."

The Secretary-General reminded that the process for Belarus to join the SCO as a full member was initiated during the 2022 Samarkand summit.

Belarus became a full member at the SCO summit held in Astana today.