Russia Making Every Effort To Facilitate Belarusian SCO Bid - Lavrov

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2023) Moscow is making every effort to accelerate Minsk's accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"I informed (Belarusian Foreign Minister) Sergei Fyodorovich (Aleinik) about the results of the Council of SCO Foreign Ministers which recently took place in the Indian state of Goa and informed him of the steps we are taking to help complete the procedures required for the Republic of Belarus to become a full-fledged member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as soon as possible," Lavrov said at a joint press conference following a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart.

The SCO foreign ministers summit took place from May 4-5. During the summit, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar noted the progress made on Minsk's path to its full membership in the SCO.

The SCO is an international cooperation organization founded by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan in 2001. In 2017, India and Pakistan were also admitted to the organization. Belarus, along with Afghanistan, Iran and Mongolia, is an SCO observer country.