Mongolia feels content about its observer status in SCO - president

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/. Mongolia feels pretty content with its current status of an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, its president, Tsakhiaggiin Elbegdorj, told TASS in an exclusive interview, when asked if his country had any plans for applying for SCO membership. "We are very glad to participate in nearly all major SCO events in the capacity of observers. But we would like to work on really large projects. So far there have been no major projects, being operated or implemented with Mongolia’s participation," he said. Elbegdorj remarked that the specific content of projects was far more important to Mongolia. "For this reason we like our current status," he explained. The SCO permanent members are Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Five countries - Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are observers and three more - Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners. The SCO countries account for a quarter of the world’s population (1.597 billion). Their overall gross domestic product stands at 11.6 trillion dollars. Read more