At the Samarkand Summit of the SCO on September 15 to 16, Iran’s official membership in the organization was finalized and it decided to accept Belarus’ membership. The membership of Iran was welcomed by other member states when the president of Uzbekistan announced it at the summit.
Some memoranda of understanding were signed to turn the status of Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Maldives, and Myanmar from observers to dialogue partners.
The SCO is the world's largest regional organization, covering approximately 60 percent of the area of Eurasia, 40 percent of the world population, and more than 30 percent of the global GDP.
The organization consists of three groups of governments, including member states, observers, and dialogue partners. Today, many governments are seeking to join the entity, because it does not take a side in dealing with countries.
The former secretary general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Rashid Alimov told Asia-Plus (a Tajik news agency) that there are many reasons that numerous countries want to join the SCO because they see it as a hub for evolving multilateral world, which can stand firm in dealing with regional and global threats.
Shirali Rizivin, a political analyst, said that states join the SCO for some reasons such as receiving security guarantees, financial and economic support as well as maintaining a balance between opposing governments in cooperation with regional organizations, and enhancing the stances of big countries in the organization.
Rizivin noted that the memberships of India and Pakistan in the SCO seem to be a hard but rare phenomenon because both nations have had a complicated relationship since their independence.
Abdolghani Mamadziov, a political science expert, noted that significant changes have happened in the world in recent years and that the West’s hegemony is fading away; so, there are numerous states, that want to join the SCO and the BRICS, which are both non-Western entities.
It is obvious for all nations that another bipolar system will kick off; so, countries would not remain far from the development, showing enthusiasm to join regional and ultra-regional organizations, because such an effort will help them be saved from sanctions and military aggressions by superpowers, Mamadziov noted.
Despite the fact that the SCO is not a military organization, accession to the entity will provide members special advantages.
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