UAE granted SCO dialogue partner status

(ECNS) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been granted the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Saturday.

Abdulnasser Alshaali, UAE ambassador to India, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning its accession to the SCO as a Dialogue Partner with Zhang Ming, secretary general of the SCO, on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting of the SCO, which took place in Goa, India, on May 4 to 5.

“The granting of Dialogue Partner status epitomizes the UAE’s consistent efforts to develop and maintain balanced and diversified partnerships with countries and multilateral organizations worldwide,” said the UAE’s Foreign Ministry.

“With more than 40% of the world's population within the SCO, our collective decisions will surely have a global impact,” said Indian Foreign Minister Subhramanyam Jaishankar at the conference.

The SCO was founded in June 2001. Its main objectives are to strengthen relations among member states, promote cooperation in political affairs, economics and trade, science, culture, education, energy, transportation, tourism, and environmental protection, safeguard regional peace, security, and stability, and create an equitable international political and economic order.