Belarus becomes full-fledged SCO member

ASTANA. July 4 (Interfax) - Belarus has been granted full-fledged membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The document admitting Belarus to the SCO was signed by the heads of the organization's member states at the summit in Astana on Thursday.

Belarus previously held observer status with the SCO.

"Belarus complied with all necessary procedures on its path toward full-fledged membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. If there are no objections, I propose starting the session with the ceremony for signing the documents on admitting the Republic of Belarus to the SCO. [...] The decision on Belarus' admission to the SCO has been adopted. [Belarusian President] Alexander Lukashenko, I whole-heartedly congratulate you on that," Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, opening the SCO summit in Astana.