SpaceWar.com reports: “Saudi Arabia has agreed to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a ‘dialogue partner’, state media reported on Wednesday, the latest indication of closer political ties with China.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001 as a political, economic and security organisation to rival Western institutions.

Besides China, its eight members include India, Pakistan and Russia, as well as four central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The cabinet approved the decision at a meeting on Tuesday chaired by King Salman, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The move would grant Riyadh ‘the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’, it said.

Other countries with either observer or dialogue partner status include Egypt, Iran and Qatar…”