UAE Granted Dialogue Partner Status in Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was officially granted Dialogue Partner status on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which took place in Goa, in the Republic of India, on 4 and 5 May 2023. 

His Excellency Dr. Abdulnasser Alshaali, UAE Ambassador to India, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning its accession to the SCO as a Dialogue Partner with His Excellency Zhang Ming, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. 

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.

Reflecting upon the UAE’s partnership with the SCO, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, underlined the crucial role the SCO has played over recent decades in supporting political stability and economic prosperity throughout Eurasia and beyond. 

Commenting on the occasion, His Highness remarked: “As an engaged member of the international community with an unwavering commitment to multilateralism, the UAE recognizes the critical importance of organizations such as the SCO in building bridges of cooperation between member states towards common objectives. In the coming period, the UAE will seek to make significant strides in its engagement with the SCO and its member states.  As a people and country, we are delighted at being welcomed as a Dialogue Partner in an organization whose global influence and importance only continue to grow.”

The SCO was founded in June 2001.  The main objectives of the SCO 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.

The SCO’s Member States are the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.   

SCO Observer States include the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, and Mongolia.

The UAE, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Republic of Maldives, and Myanmar join existing SCO Dialogue Partners, which include the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Türkiye, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.