Samarkand, Uzbekistan – Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has granted Maldives dialogue partner status.
Maldives was granted the status in the Samarkand Declaration adopted by the member states in the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 15, 2022.
In addition to Maldives, status of the SCO dialogue partner was also granted to Bahrain, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The MoU for granting the SCO dialogue partner status to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar was also inked.
The Samarkand Summit further announced the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Arab League, UNESCO and Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific thus expanding cooperation with international organizations.
The decision to admit Maldives as a dialogue partner was initially reached at the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 27-28 July 2022.
Following this Foreign Ministry had stated that Maldives believes becoming a dialogue partner would place the Maldives at the heart of the region’s economic activities and would serve the country 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, said the Foreign Ministry.
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.
