Afghanistan raises question of joining SCO

ASTANA. KAZINFORM During the session of the Council of Heads of State of SCO in Sochi, Prime Minister of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah asked to include the question of his country's accession to the Organization as a full-fledged member in the agenda of the next session of the Council, Kazinform has learned from TASS.

Afghan PM has once again restated his country's interest in becoming a full member of the Organization a meeting of the Council of SCO Heads of Government in an expanded format.

He also spoke in favor of granting Afghanistan the status of co-chair to the SCO in a contact group dealing with security issues. According to Abdullah Abdullah, such work will help "combat the challenges that Afghanistan faces in the region."

The Prime Minister of Afghanistan stressed that 'Afghanistan remains at the forefront of the fight against all manifestations of terrorism'. Abdullah Abdullah assured that his country will continue the fight against terrorism, urging other states to cooperate in this direction. "Our duty is to stand firmly shoulder to shoulder and fight against all forms of terrorism and if we are not able to do so, it will be our collective fault," he said.

According to him, Afghanistan is striving for a political settlement, for which it is ready to work with elements of the armed Afghan opposition who are willing to cooperate in achieving peace.

The Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was signed in China's Shanghai in June 2001 by six founding states - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In 2017, India and Pakistan became full-fledged SCO members.

Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia currently have observer status, while Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, and Nepal are the SCO's dialogue partners.