India To Focus On 'Reform, Modernisation' Of SCO, Membership Of Iran, Belarus To Be Considered

India, which is the chair of the SCO this year, is hosting the Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa on May 5. Last week, the SCO Defence Ministers meeting took place in New Delhi.

Benaulim (Goa): The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers Meeting will put focus on "reform and modernisation" of the grouping and will also discuss the proposals of Iran and Belarus, currently observer, to grant them full membership.

India, which is the chair of the SCO this year, is hosting the Foreign Ministers Meeting in Goa on May 5. Last week, the SCO Defence Ministers meeting took place in New Delhi. 

“The SCO Foreign Ministers Meeting will give an the opportunity to discuss the state of multilateral cooperation in SCO’s regional and global issues of interest, reform and modernisation of the organisation,” said Dammu Ravi, Secretary (External Relations), Ministry of External Affairs.

READ | Look Forward To Constructive Discussions: Pak Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto On SCO Meeting In Goa

He said during the meeting the process of granting full SCO membership to Iran and Belarus will also be considered. However, the final decision will be taken during the SCO Heads of State meeting, or the SCO Summit, which will be taking place in July in New Delhi.

Currently, there are eight members of the SCO and three observers. There are also 14 dialogue partners. In this meeting, the proposals of Kuwait, UAE, Myanmar and Maldives will also be considered to include them dialogue partners.

The SCO meeting will be taking place in the backdrop of the ongoing Russia Ukraine war and a deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan even as the west is closely watching what decisions this particular grouping, of which Russia and China are also members.

According to official sources, both the issues are not on the official agenda. However, member countries can raise these issues as part of their national statements.

SCO was created in 2001 with security being the aspect. India and Pakistan became full members of the grouping in 2017.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with the Secretary General Zhang Ming and said it was "productive". He said India’s SCO Presidency is "driven by a commitment to SECURE SCO".

The sources said during the Foreign Ministers meeting 15 agreements will be signed that will be followed up during the leaders’ meeting in July.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrived in Goa and said he was “happy” to be in India and looked forward to meetings with all SCO member states.