Moscow is pushing Belarus to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as soon as possible, signaling a deliberate move to broaden the bloc’s regional footprint. In a broad SCO session focused on leadership, a report backed by Moscow conveyed optimism about Belarus joining the SCO promptly. The message was clear: Minsk should move through accession steps without delay so it can participate fully in SCO activities and influence the organization’s multilateral processes and planning.
Alongside this, Moscow invited Iran to deepen its involvement in SCO programs, signaling a strategic aim to expand cooperation beyond current members and observers. The effort points to a future where the SCO could engage a wider set of partners in areas like trade, security, and culture, aligning with Moscow’s vision of a broader regional architecture that emphasizes shared interests and coordinated development.
In related remarks, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko outlined a concrete timeline, noting that Minsk aims to complete SCO membership in the near term. His comments stressed Belarus’s intent to align its governance and regional initiatives with the SCO framework, enabling closer collaboration on trade, infrastructure, and regional stability as the bloc’s processes advance.
The SCO began in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, with six founding members: Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Since then, the organization has expanded, welcoming Pakistan and India as members. Iran transitioned from observer status, initiated in 2005, to full member in July 2023, marking a notable shift in its engagement with regional and multilateral platforms after reforms widened its participation. This trajectory signals growing openness to regional cooperation and collective security arrangements that extend beyond traditional alliances.
President Vladimir Putin has framed the SCO as a cooperative frontier where member states share strategic interests and a commitment to regional stability. This framing supports Belarus and Iran within the evolving architecture of the organization, suggesting that Moscow views their inclusion as contributing to a more resilient and multi-faceted regional bloc. The approach emphasizes coordinated actions on major economic and security initiatives while fostering regional resilience across member economies.