Belarus set to become a full member of SCO charter by 2024: FS Kwatra

NEW DELHI: Underlining that there are no more pending requests from members to become full SCO members as of now, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Tuesday said that Iran is now a member and Belarus is set to become a full member of the charter by 2024. He said that overall there are 14 other dialogue partners in SCO and three observers.

After SCO Summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra in a special briefing said, "Iran is now a member. Belarus is set to become a full member by 2024. As of now, there are 14 other dialogue partners in SCO. There are also three observers. To our understanding, there are no more pending requests from members to become full SCO members as of now."

As Iran joined the SCO charter as a full member state today, all the leaders, including PM Modi congratulated the country and welcomed it to the grouping. "Happy Iran is becoming a member of SCO grouping," PM Modi said.

Regarding the same, FS Kwatra said, "All the leaders welcomed the completion of the procedure for Iran to join as the organisation's (SCO) full Member State. Prime Minister also congratulated President Raisi. The leaders also welcomed the decision on signing the Memorandum of Obligation of Belarus to join the organisation as a Member State, the process will be completed by the 2024 SCO Summit."

Furthermore, in response to a question on holding the SCO meeting in virtual format, Kwatra said there are several factors that go behind the decision in holding a Summit.

He said, "There are a number of factors that go behind the decision in holding a Summit - in this case, the virtual summit. This in no way insinuates the dilution in the objectives that we are trying to seek from the SCO Summit."

Iran, one of India's neighbours in its extended neighbourhood, has formally become a full member of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Tuesday chaired the SCO Summit virtually, said Iran is going to join as new member of the organization and also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Obligation for the SCO membership of Belarus.

"I am happy that today Iran is going to join the SCO family as a new member. For this, I convey my best wishes to President Ebrahim Raisi and the people of Iran. Also, we welcome the signing of the memorandum of obligation for Belarus' SCO membership," PM Modi said at the summit.

Iran originally requested to join the alliance 15 years ago. SCO follows a rigorous process of admission. In 2021, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that they had joined the SCO as the ninth member.

PM Modi chaired the SCO meeting virtually. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and other leaders virtually participated in the SCO meeting. PM Modi said that India has made efforts to take its multi-faceted cooperation with SCO to new heights.