SCO Secretary-General: About 20 countries applied to join organization

As Nurlan Yermekbayev, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), announced at a reception dedicated to the SCO's 25th anniversary, approximately 20 countries have applied to join the organization, each in its own status, RIA Novosti reports.

"Currently, there is increased interest in the organization from the global community; approximately 20 applications for accession to the SCO, in one status or another, are in the application pool," Yermekbayev said.

According to him, this demonstrates the demand for the SCO's values and principles.

The SCO is an international organization founded in 2001. Its member states include Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Partner countries are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Sri Lanka.