NEW DELHI, February 21. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has become one of Eurasia’s centers of attraction, including for countries of the Middle East, South and Southeastern Asia and North Africa, SCO Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev said in an interview with TASS.
“SCO has become one of centers of attraction of Eurasia, including for countries of the Middle East, South and Southeastern Asia and even North Africa. Crisis developments observed globally only encouraged the partners’ interest in joint work within SCO in this or that capacity,” he said.
The activities and principles of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are widely demanded, Yermekbayev noted. “As of today, the organization spans around one fourth of the globe, the population of the SCO community accounts for almost half of the planet’s population (43.17%), while the aggregate GDP of member-states accounts for over 28% of global gross product,” he said.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization currently brings together ten member states (Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan). Moreover, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Sri Lanka are SCO dialogue partners, while Afghanistan and Mongolia are SCO observers.
China took over the rotating SCO presidency at last year’s summit in Astana. This year China will host a summit of the organization.