Vladimir Putin: SCO has become attractive to other countries in region

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has become attractive to other countries in the region. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin said during an exclusive interview with MIR TV channel.
"The SCO is an international organization that was born naturally in the mid-1990s, and this was connected with the beginning of work on resolving border issues between Russia, China and a number of republics of the former Soviet Union - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan," he said.
According to the Russian leader, after the work has been successfully completed and it has brought good practical results, all participants came to the conclusion that this format could not only be maintained, but also granted a new status. "Namely, the status of an organization that would take up the development of relations in the most diverse areas and activities. So it happened. Then, in the course of its work, it turned out that the tasks that the organization sets for itself and the issues that it tackles are attractive for other states of the region. Therefore, many countries have joined the SCO in various capacities - already 18 of them, as far as I know - as full members of the organization and as observers," Vladimir Putin said.
He added that the SCO has become a rather serious and multi-faceted regional organization.