​Kathmandu, March 22 (IANS) Nepal on Tuesday officially become a Dialogue Partner of the Sanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), after signing a Memorandum of Understanding in Beijing.

Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and SCO Secretary-General Rashid K. Alimov inked the memorandum during a special ceremony held at the SCO Secretariat in Beijing.

The programme was witnessed by Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Oli and other senior ministers. Oli is on an official visit to China.

Nepal applied for Dialogue Partner status at the SCO in 2007 and in 2015. The decision to grant it the Dialogue Partner status was taken at the 15th SCO Summit held on July 9-10, 2015, in Russian city of Ufa.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a permanent intergovernmental organisation founded on June 15, 2001, by the leaders of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

At present, four countries -- Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia -- have been granted Observer Status while Ufa Summit has decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey also are Dialogue Partners of the SCO.
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