In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the Government of Maldives welcomes the decision of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisations (SCO) to grant the status of dialogue partner to Maldives at the upcoming summit of Head of States in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in September 2022. The decision was reached at the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 27-28 July 2022.
The statement reads that the Maldives believes becoming a dialogue partner would place the Maldives at the heart of the region’s economic activities and would serve Maldives and the Member States to work even more closely on achieving shared priorities. It would also pave the way for Maldives to actively engage in addressing challenges to maritime security and to enhance cooperation with SCO member states on issues central to our foreign policy.
The SCO, established on 15 June 2001, comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
