The Saudi Arabian cabinet on Wednesday approved a decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Chinese-led security bloc, in a sign of its deepening ties with Beijing.
According to the Saudi state press agency, the Saudi cabinet approved a memorandum granting the kingdom “dialogue partner” status, a first step before gaining full membership in the SCO.
Participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit meet in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, September 16, 2022. (Sputnik / Sergey Bobylev / Pool via Portal)
Founded in 2001 by Russia, China and former Soviet states in Central Asia, the SCO is a political and security union aimed at countering Western influence.
The body has since been expanded to include India and Pakistan. Iran also signed documents for full membership last year.
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Sources told Portal the possibility of Saudi Arabia joining the SCO was discussed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia in December.
Iran’s top security official Ali Shamkhani (right), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (center) and Saudi Arabia’s national security adviser Musaid Al Aiban shake hands after Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to end bilateral diplomatic ties on March 10 March 2023 in Beijing to resume. (Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Saudi Arabia’s move comes as the kingdom and other Persian Gulf states have grown wary of losing the US as a historic guarantor of security and have sought to diversify partners.
Beijing’s growing influence in the region was evident earlier this month when it brokered a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume diplomatic ties after more than seven years of hostilities.
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China has claimed it had no ulterior motive in brokering peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran. A spokesman for the kingdom’s foreign ministry said after the deal that China “has no vested interests in the Middle East.”