Given the receipt by Belarus of the status of a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as the submission of an official application to join the BRICS association, the SCO and BRICS Research Center has been established at the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research.
The establishment of the Center correlates with international practice. Most of the BISR partner analytical structures from India, Iran, China, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have followed this path.
The purpose of the Center's activities is the systematic study of political, economic, humanitarian, integration and other processes and trends in the SCO and BRICS space. Attention is also paid to improving the effectiveness of scientific research and coordinating expert work on this issue at the national level.
The main tasks of the center will be to coordinate the interaction of the BISR with the SCO Forum and the Council of BRICS Expert Centers, analyze and study current problems and trends related to the implementation of Belarus' foreign policy within the framework of SCO membership, and in the future, BRICS. Equally important tasks are the expansion of partnerships, the exchange of experience and research materials between research, political science and expert-analytical centers and higher education institutions in the SCO and BRICS space.
The tasks of the Center also include the preparation of forecast and analytical materials, practical recommendations on the topics of the SCO and BRICS activities, publication of research materials, holding international seminars, scientific and practical conferences, round tables and other expert events on the SCO and BRICS agendas, as well as participation in such events. The Center will also interact with the media in order to widely explain the goals, objectives, priorities of activities and fundamental principles of the SCO and BRICS and form national delegations to participate in the annual meetings of the SCO Forum and the BRICS Academic Forum.
BISR's official application to join the SCO Forum in the status of a National Research Center has been sent through diplomatic channels to its current Chairman, the Indian Council of World Affairs, as well as to the Secretariat of this international organization.