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SCO and BRICS summits in Ufa

Uzbekistan’s president says SCO should continue having bloc-free character

"It is necessary to exclude any bloc-based policies or turning SCO into a military-political alliance," Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov said

Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov EPA/IVAN SEKRETAREV/POOL

Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov

© EPA/IVAN SEKRETAREV/POOL

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UFA, July 10. /TASS/. Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov says the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation should remain outside any blocs.

At the Organisation’s summit in Russia’s Ufa he focused on further confirmation the Organisation "is not aimed against other countries."

"In other words," he said, "it is necessary to exclude any bloc-based policies or turning SCO into a military-political alliance, it is necessary to keep and improve further our adherence to the approaches and objectives of the Organisation."

"The quickly changing modern world and the gradual growth of influence and authority of SCO in settlement of the modern problems" and development of the organisation into "a realistic factor for security, stability, sustainable development," which is a reason of "a growing interest from many countries to become members, observers or partners."

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The SCO creation was proclaimed on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

At present five countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan) have observer-nation status, and three more countries (Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka), dialogue partner status.

The SCO member states occupy a territory of around 30 million 189 thousand square kilometres, which makes up three-fifths of the Eurasian continent, and have a population of 1.5 billion, which makes up a quarter of the planet's population.

India and Pakistan officially applied for full SCO membership in September 2014. Iran also seeks full membership in the organisation.

The SCO has established relations with the United Nations, where it is an observer at the General Assembly, with the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

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