Putin, Xi, Modi welcome Iran as 9th member of Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have welcomed Iran’s accession into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as the ninth full member of the influential security and trade alliance.

Iran gained full-fledged membership of the SCO on Tuesday, during the 23rd virtual summit of the SCO hosted by India, becoming the ninth member of the bloc, which also includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will now participate in our organization in a full-fledged format. I would like to extend congratulations on this occasion to the president of Iran, Mr. Ebrahim Raeisi, and sincere greetings to him," Putin said during his address to the one-day-long summit.

"In less than two years, our Iranian partners completed all the necessary procedures and now our shared task is to help our colleagues to productively join in the multifaceted activities taking place within the framework of the SCO," the Russian leader added.

Being a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defense bloc, the SCO boasts to be the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population, grouping around 40 percent of the world population in approximately 60 percent of Eurasia.

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The combined GDP of the SCO accounts for approximately 20 percent of the world's total, and with Iran now being a full member, the bloc will have control over around 20 percent of the world's oil reserves.

"At this meeting, we are going to welcome Iran as a full member," Xi said at the beginning of his speech at the summit.

While expressing his "congratulations" to Tehran, he said that the addition of Iran as a new member "will manifest the vitality of our SCO family."

The Chinese president called on the leaders of member states to boost ties and resist Western sanctions.

Xi "called for efforts to safeguard regional peace and ensure common security", urging SCO member states to "enhance their solidarity."

Modi, whose country is the current one-year SCO chair, also warmly welcomed Iran's accession to full membership in the bloc.

"I am happy that today Iran is going to join the SCO family as a new member," the Indian premier said, adding, "I extend my congratulations to President Raeisi and the people of Iran on this occasion."

Modi said the group should not hesitate to criticize countries that are "using terrorism as an instrument of its state policy."

"Terrorism poses a threat to regional peace and we need to take up a joint fight," the Indian premier said, while also warning of global challenges to food, fuel, and fertilizer supplies.

Putin thanks allies' support during mutiny 

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian president said that the Russian people were “united as never before", in the wake of the Wagner mutiny last month.

The short-lived mutiny began on June 23 over differences between Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The episode promptly ended with a deal between the two sides brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Putin on Tuesday also thanked the member states for supporting Russia during the brief mutiny.

He further praised the SCO for "playing an increasingly significant role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of the participating states, and strengthening ties between peoples."

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