EAM Jaishankar meets Belarusian counterpart, welcomes Belarus to SCO bloc

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday met his Belarusian counterpart Maksim Ryzhenkov here and discussed the bilateral relationship and its future growth potential.

Jaishankar, who is here to represent India at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and carrying out various bilateral meetings on the sidelines, also welcomed the eastern European country as the newest member to the SCO bloc.

Pleased to meet FM Maksim Ryzhenkov of Belarus today. Welcome Belarus to the SCO as its newest member. Discussed our bilateral relationship and its future growth potential, Jaishankar posted on the social media platform X along with the photos of the meeting.

The meeting of the two Foreign Ministers came days after the first-ever India-Belarus Consular Dialogue that was held on June 28 in Minsk.

The Indian delegation was led by Dr Aman Puri, JS (CPV), while the Belarusian delegation was led by Andrei Kozhan, Head of General Directorate for Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, a statement from the MEA said on Tuesday.

With nine member states -- India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan the SCO has emerged as an influential economic and security bloc and one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.

Kazakhstan is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping.