Press release on the outcomes of the SCO Foreign Ministers Council meeting
5 May 2023 14:57
868-05-05-2023
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Foreign Ministers Council, held in Panaji, state of Goa, India, on May 4 and 5.
The foreign ministers discussed the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council (HSC), which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on July 3 and 4. Among other things, they reviewed draft documents to be submitted to the heads of state.
The New Delhi Declaration will reflect the consolidated approaches of the participating parties to the key items on the SCO agenda, as well as topical global and regional matters. The HSC is also expected to adopt statements on specific issues, including deradicalisation, climate change, digital transformation and food security.
The ministers paid special attention to expanding the organisation's membership, with Iran expected to be granted full SCO membership at the upcoming summit. Procedures to accept Belarus into the organisation have been launched and are well underway. Bahrain, Kuwait, Myanmar, the Maldives and the UAE are about to join SCO-led cooperation efforts as new dialogue partners.
The meeting included a detailed exchange of views on key regional and international matters, during which the participants were unanimous in stating the importance of deeper foreign policy coordination among SCO countries, primarily at the UN. In the context of the combined efforts by SCO member states to counter terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and cross-border organised crime, the foreign ministers paid special attention to the situation in Afghanistan, considering the urgency of preventing the instability there from spilling over into the SCO space.
Sergey Lavrov also held several bilateral meetings.
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