SCO Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev made this statement. He was delivering speech at the second meeting of the Press Club of the organization.
Mezentsev said that along with India, Pakistan and Iran which have already applied for SCO full membership, several countries are trying to get a status of observers and dialogue partners. Thus, Syria, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Bangladesh applied for an observer status.
"We have recently received an appeal from the foreign minister of the Republic of Maldives with a request for granting a dialogue partner status," Mezentsev said. “This appeal also received from Nepal.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister’s appeal for granting a dialogue partner status was received in March 2013, SCO Secretary General said. Then, this appeal "has been verbally confirmed" in July 2014.
"We appreciate those appeals and attention to the organization,” he said. “This testifies to the fact that the organization has gained credibility. SCO is a unique international union."
The SCO and BRICS summits will be held in Ufa on July 8-10, 2015.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a regional international association. It was established on June 15, 2001 on the basis of the so-called "Shanghai Five", including Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, operating since 1996.
At present, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are SCO member-states. An observer status was granted to Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey have a "dialogue partner" status.
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