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Nepal seeks full-fledged membership in Shanghai Cooperation Organization — PM

Nepal has been a SCO dialogue partner since 2016

TIANJIN, September 1. /TASS/. Nepal wants to be granted full-fledged membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the country’s Prime Minister Sharma Oli said.

"Being a dialogue partner since 2016, Nepal is looking to join [the organization] as a full-fledged member," the Nepalese foreign ministry quoted him as saying at an extended SCO meeting in China’s Tianjin.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization should be "more united and more resilient amid intensifying geopolitical, economic, and environmental challenges," he said. "In these turbulent times, regional cooperation is an instrument for resolving common problems."

"Nepal’s commitment to regional cooperation is unshakable and its relations with the SCO member states are strong," he pledged. "Ensuring sustainability and prosperity of the SCO region is an achievable goal if we pool our efforts."

At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit earlier in the day, Oli stated that the two countries have "long and friendly" relations and called for their further development.

The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001 by six countries, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined the organization in 2017, Iran - in 2023, and Belarus - in 2024.

Extended meetings in the SCO Plus format are attended by representatives from other countries and international organizations.

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