SCO to hail Mongolia’s accession to organization - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) would welcome Mongolia’s accession to the organization, but there is no formal request from Ulaanbaatar yet, Russian Presidential Envoy for SCO Affairs, Ambassador-at-Large, Bakhtier Khakimov, told TASS. "Mongolia is a country among the potential and, I would even say, desirable candidates for SCO membership. It was the first country to receive observer status at the organization back in 2005," he said. The diplomat noted, however, that Mongolia has not yet formally applied for membership. "We note very stable interest and willingness of Ulaanbatar to develop relations with the SCO," he said. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent regional association founded in Shanghai, China, in June 2001 by six nations, namely, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its priority tasks include joint counteraction to terrorism and extremism, cooperation in education as well as in the energy, oil and gas, transport, communications and other spheres. On June 9, 2017, a decision was taken to grant full-fledged membership to India and Pakistan. Four observer countries (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia) and six dialogue partners (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka) also take part in the work of the association. Read more