Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Countries of the South are developing cooperation through regional economic communities. For example, the Russian Federation is developing co-operation with Asian partners within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Union. The latter was launched on 1 January 2015 with Belarus and Kazakhstan and has since been extended to Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The Eurasian Economic Union replaces the Eurasian Economic Community. In July 2015, the Russian Federation hosted a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the same city, at which the admission of India and Pakistan was announced.