The decision was taken by the leaders of the SCO member states at a meeting in Ufa.
Earlier, 5 countries had an observer status in the SCO: Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan. Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka had a dialogue partner status.
Belarus applied for raising the status in the SCO in 2005. The observer status allows a country to participate in the higher level activities.
“In connection with your visit to Ufa, I would like to congratulate you on the fact that the task that you put before Belarus (Belarussia in the original) and asked to support us in this task – improving the status of Belarus in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – has been tackled,” said the President of Russia Vladimir Putin to the head of Belarus on July 8.
At a meeting in Ufa, which now holds the SCO summit, the leaders of the member countries of the organization signed a decision to start the admission procedures of India and Pakistan to the SCO members. The status of a dialogue partner was received by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Nepal.
The SCO currently includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
