Iran press/ Asia: In his opening speech of the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of States, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized on Tuesday: "I am happy that Iran has joined the main members of this organization as a new member."
According to Iran Press report on Tuesday, the 23rd 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of States started today in a video conferencing format hosted by India.
In today's meeting, Iran's official and full membership in this organization is supposed to be officially approved and announced.
In his opening speech, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to some common challenges of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, considered terrorism a common threat to all these countries and said: "Terrorism is a threat to regional and global peace and we must fight terrorism."
He said: India's concerns and expectations regarding the Afghanistan issue are similar to the concerns and expectations of other member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization regarding this issue.
In another part of his speech, Narendra Modi added: Some countries use cross-border terrorism as a tool for their policies and help them. Including these measures of harboring terrorists in their own territory, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should not be indifferent to the behavior of these countries, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries should condemn cross-border terrorism, and there should not be double standards regarding terrorism.
Earlier on June 30.2023 Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Zhang Ming discussed and exchanged views about the process of cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the upcoming meeting of the organization.
Expressing appreciation for the efforts and cooperation of the SCO Secretary-General to complete Iran's full membership process, the foreign minister announced Iran's readiness to attend the upcoming meeting of the organization, which will be held virtually.
Referring to the extensive efforts made by the Iranian government, the Parliament, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in preparing and approving documents related to Iran's full membership, Amir-Abdollahian said, "I am confident that Iran's membership will add new and growing capabilities to SCO."
Amir-Abdollahian also declared the official introduction of Iran's national coordinator to the organization's secretariat in the coming week.
The SCO secretary general, for his part, expressed his happiness with the full membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the organization and emphasized that Iran's membership will be officially announced in the upcoming meeting of the organization. He added that from July 4th, the Islamic Republic of Iran will enjoy all the rights that the other member countries of the organization do.
He also considered Iran's role in advancing the SCO goals as important, adding "I am honored that the process of permanent membership of Iran has been completed during my tenure as the Secretary General of the organization."
Iran officially assumes a full membership of SCO
The permanent membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was officially announced today, Tuesday, in the virtual meeting of the heads of this organization under the chairmanship of India.
Today, July 4, Iran's membership was officially announced at the 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit held virtually and chaired by India.In his opening speech at the meeting, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Iran on its membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran's permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and added that Iran's official joining the body could add new capacity.
President Ebrahim Raisi also gave a speech at this meeting.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded in 1996 by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan with the aim of establishing a balance of power against the influence of America and NATO under the name of Shanghai Five and after Uzbekistan joined it, it was called the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was officially established on June 15, 2001, and its headquarters was established in China. The official languages of this organization are Russian and Chinese.
Kazakh President urges closer energy cooperation with other SCO members
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on Tuesday for closer energy cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation which includes Russia, China, and India with the Islamic Republic of Iran being declared and accepted as the new member.
Tokayev told a virtual meeting of SCO leaders that Kazakhstan was ready to host an SCO energy conference and proposed developing a joint energy strategy for the organization over the next year.
China urges enhancing solidarity and mutual respect among SCO member states
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to follow the right direction and enhance their solidarity and mutual trust.
Addressing the SCO summit via video link, Xi called for efforts to safeguard regional peace and ensure common security.
He urged the SCO member countries to focus on pragmatic cooperation to speed up economic recovery. The Chinese leader also called for strengthening exchanges and mutual learning among the SCO countries and fostering closer people-to-people ties.
Xi also called for efforts to better synergize high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with various countries' development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives.
Putin while congratulating Iran over SCO membership says Moscow -SCO ties getting stronger
Speaking at the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of States, on Tuesday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Islamic Republic of Iran on the official membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, stating that cooperation and relations between Russia and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are getting stronger.
According to Iran press, Vladimir Putin said in his speech at the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of States, which is being held via video conferencing hosted by India: "Today, economic threats and dangers are spreading; which can lead to security threats. This is too important."
"Many countries are developing neo-Nazi ideas in Ukraine and arming Ukraine to harm Russia, Putin said adding, that there is an open Hybrid war against Russia."
The Russian President further appreciated the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for supporting Moscow's actions to protect Russia's law and order during the recent armed rebellion by the Wagner group.
Putin said: "Russia will definitely resist sanctions and foreign pressure, and today the Russian people are more united than ever before."
In another part of his speech, the President of Russia also supported Belarus joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Pointing to the necessity of creating new banking and monetary mechanisms to facilitate trade among the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, he pointed out the use of the countries' national currencies and said: "More than 80 percent of the trade between Russia and China uses Ruble and Yuan (national currencies of Russia and China) respectively is done.
Putin added: "The share of the Russian currency in export transactions with Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries wend beyond 40% in 2022.
In another part of his speech, the President of Russia said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is committed to creating a just world order centered on the United Nations.
206
Read More:
Iranian envoy to China meets SCO head
