SCO Says Interest in Bloc Keeps Growing Despite Western Pressure

BEIJING (Sputnik) - The rise in tensions between the West and Russia and China did not influence a single state to reconsider cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), SCO Deputy Secretary-General Grigory Logvinov told Sputnik.

"In the context of the current geopolitical troubles and conflicts, the growing aggravation of relations between the collective West on the one hand, and Russia with China on the other, has not forced any of the states to reconsider their decision to establish ties with the SCO in one format or another," Logvinov said.

On the contrary, many countries decided to take a closer look at the SCO and to learn more about the organization's activities, according to the official.

"It is hardly reasonable to see a direct correlation between what is happening in the world and the desire of individual countries to join the SCO. The interest in our organization has been gradually growing throughout the twenty years of its existence," Logvinov said in response to the relevant question.

The SCO is an international organization founded in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan. The SCO's observer countries include Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, while the partner countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. At the summit in Dushanbe in September 2021, the SCO launched the procedure for admitting Iran to the organization and granting dialogue partner status to Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month, Belarus submitted application to join the SCO. SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming has confirmed the receipt of Belarus' application and said that the organization stands ready to begin all necessary legal procedures.