The commitment to maintaining and expanding relations with states and international organisations defines the way the SCO positions itself on the international stage, as reflected in the SCO Charter of 7 June 2002.
The SCO Development Strategy until 2035 provides for consolidating the organisation’s international standing and influence by building stronger ties with the United Nations and its specialised agencies, as well as other international and regional organisations whose activities are not designed to infringe upon the interests of the SCO or its member states.
Two countries, Afghanistan and Mongolia, have observer status within the SCO.
The SCO has 15 dialogue partners, namely Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, Laos, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Sri Lanka.
The SCO Secretariat has formalised its relations with the UN Secretariat and seven specialised UN agencies: UNODC, ESCAP, UNESCO, OCHA, UNEP, FAO and UN Tourism. It also maintains ties with eight international and regional organisations: ASEAN, the CIS, the CSTO, ECO, CICA, the ICRC, the EAEU and the LAS.