More countries interested in joining SCO: Secretary general

Beijing, Sep 15: Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) secretary general Zhang Ming recently said that more countries are interested in joining the group of eight members' organisation, including India, Russia and China.

The 22nd Summit of the council of heads of the SCO member states is being held in Samarkand in Uzbekistan today.

Ahead of the summit, Ming told China's CGTN that Iran's accession to SCO will be discussed during the summit. Along with Iran, Belarus also formally submitted an application for full membership.

Ming also said that there is a long queue outside the door of the SCO. He said that the reason for this is global changes so the international community expects a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

The Jerusalem Post in its analysis quoted an Arab News article that said the UAE reportedly wants to join as a member of the SCO, while bypassing other accession conditions. Also, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Bangladesh and Vietnam hope to join as dialogue partners or observers.

The Jerusalem Post in its analysis also highlighted Turkey's role at the summit. Turkey's relations with Russia, Iran and China are growing. It said that Turkey wants to form an alliance of authoritarian regimes that will be anti-western and help reduce the US's role in the Middle East and Asia.

The SCO currently has eight member states (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). It has four observer states interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia). It has also six dialogue partners (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey).