Kazakh Ambassador: we expect Belarus' full membership in SCO to be formalised at Astana summit on July 4th

On July 4th, at the SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan is waiting for the Republic of Belarus to formalise its full membership in the organisation. Mongolia is preparing to join the SCO. The territorial expansion of the SCO and a significant change in geopolitical conditions raise the question of a possible new status of this organisation – as stated by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Belarus, Yerlan Baizhanov, during the Unifying Potential of the SCO in the Emerging Multipolar World round table discussion on April 3rd, 2024.

The diplomat recalled that the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) was established in 2001 on the basis of the so-called Shanghai Five [China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan] and has undergone a serious evolution.

“The main mission of the organisation was to strengthen trust and ensure security in the Asian region. The resolution of this task became the foundation for expanding co-operation, including not only security issues on the SCO agenda, but also economy, energy, cultural and humanitarian exchange, ecology, etc. Today, the SCO is an authoritative multilateral structure that unites nine member states: India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Recently, the geography of the organisation has been expanding quite rapidly. In 2022, six new dialogue partners joined the organisation, four of which are Arab countries (the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, and Kuwait).  In 2023, Iran became a full member of the SCO,” Yerlan Baizhanov noted.

According to Mr. Baizhanov, there are 26 states in the SCO, taking into account observers and dialogue partners. This is a large part of the territory of Eurasia and more than 3bn people, meaning that the SCO countries unite about 40 per cent of the world's population.

“The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, outlined the priorities of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the SCO at the summit in New Delhi in 2023. At the same time, Mr. Tokayev proposed to develop and adopt a new SCO Development Strategy until 2035. We expect that a decision on this issue will be made at the SCO summit in July,” the diplomat stated.

During the round table discussion, the Ambassador elaborated on the Kazakhstan's initiatives within the SCO. The discussion focused on the initiative On World Unity for Just Peace and Harmony, which offers a new security paradigm, a fair economic environment, and a clean planet, as well as on the programme of co-operation in countering the so-called ‘three forces of evil’ (terrorism, separatism, and extremism), and on the SCO Anti-Drug Strategy until 2029.

Yerlan Baizhanov also stated that the President of Kazakhstan proposed to create a joint SCO Investment Fund, which will contribute to the intensification of economic and investment co-operation.  Another initiative concerns the digital divide between countries and social groups. Kazakhstan has also prepared the SCO Energy Co-operation Strategy and initiated a number of measures to address environmental issues within the organisation. Kazakhstan has also directed efforts to improve mutual understanding between peoples and preserve the diversity of cultures of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation.

“The successful development of the SCO is based on the principles of equality, dialogue, mutual trust, and respect for the diversity of cultures,” the Ambassador stressed.

The diplomat drew special attention to the ‘unifying potential’, to the contribution that the SCO is able to make to the co-operation of the world's poles. 

“Unfortunately, in recent years, we have seen only growing confrontation, an increasing number of military conflicts, and sanctions standoff. I am sure that in such a situation, there is a high temptation to consider the SCO as a possible counterweight to other world centres of influence. However, we consider it a mistake to turn to the path of confrontation between East and West. We see the future of the SCO precisely as a platform for constructive dialogue and co-operation,” Yerlan Baizhanov underlined.