Meeting with SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming

Belarus intends to fulfill the procedures for joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization by the Delhi summit in June, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming in Minsk on 9 March.

"Mr Secretary General, you know our goal. For us to become a full member of the organization, we need to carry out certain legal procedures. We must join the decisions taken by the SCO earlier. We have set ourselves an ambitious goal to complete this work this year, before the Delhi summit. It's a fast pace, a serious pace. But if you support us, it will be a good example for others. Moreover, being an observer, we were seriously preparing to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Therefore, we will definitely be able to meet the deadline, before we meet again in Delhi in June," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

"You know our goals. All SCO members are aware of our capabilities. I would only like to ask if you have any concerns or questions to Belarus as we are undergoing the process of legal accession to the organization," the Belarusian leader added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked Zhang Ming and the entire SCO secretariat for the work they are doing with regard to Belarus, which was actually accepted into the family of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at the last summit in Samarkand. Then it was decided to give a green light to Belarus' accession to the SCO.

In turn, Zhang Ming stressed that it is a great honor and joy for him to come to Belarus. He thanked for the warm welcome and hospitality. "I have good impressions of our meeting that took place in the run-up to the SCO summit [in Samarkand]. We had a very constructive dialogue. Then we discussed the accession of Belarus to the SCO. This was the key topic of our talks," the secretary general said.