NEW DELHI, July 4. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can become an important voice in reforming global institutions, including the United Nations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the opening of the SCO summit on Tuesday.

"The SCO can become an important voice in reforming other global institutions, including the United Nations," Modi said.

"Over the past two decades, the SCO has become an important platform for peace, prosperity and development across the Eurasian region. The SCO is evolving into an organization that is fully prepared to face the future," he added.

The SCO was established in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. Today, the organization comprises eight countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as the founding states, as well as India and Pakistan, which joined the organization in 2017.

All member states of the organization take part in the SCO summit in New Delhi. Iran, Belarus and Mongolia are invited as observers. Turkmenistan participates as a guest. The summit is also attended by the heads of two bodies of the organization - the Secretariat and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. The heads of six international and regional organizations - the UN, ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EAEU and CICA - are also invited.