Malaysia sees no necessity to join SCO for now, says Mohamad

Instead, he said Malaysia should focus on strengthening ASEAN while exploring opportunities to further enhances its engagement and cooperation with the SCO.

"We already have ASEAN and ASEAN needs to be empowered further aside from establishing a better relationship with the SCO," he told the Malaysian media delegation covering Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's four-day working visit to China, here.

Mohamad accompanied Anwar on the visit which covered Beijing and Tianjin.

Mohamad said Anwar was invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the SCO Summit, where he also delivered remarks at the SCO Plus Summit.

"The Prime Minister was invited as a special guest and was given the opportunity to speak at the forum. For the time being, we do not see a need to become a member state of the SCO," he said.

Established in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is an intergovernmental international organisation aimed at encouraging effective cooperation among member states in various spheres, including politics, economy, regional security and stability, science and technology, energy, and transport.

It now comprises 10 members, namely China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus, representing over three billion people or about 45 per cent of the world's population. In addition, the SCO has two countries holding the 'observer country" status and 14 dialogue partners.

The combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the organisation in 2023 accounted for approximately 32 per cent of the world's total.