After a three-year pandemic pause that has caused serious disruption in trade, economic and industrial ties, the countries and peoples of the SCO need to communicate directly, says Shavkat Mirziyoev in an article titled “The SCO Samarkand Summit: Dialogue and Cooperation in an Interconnected World”.
“The ancient city of Samarkand, the jewel of the Great Silk Road, is ready to welcome the leaders of fourteen countries with new breakthrough proposals and initiatives designed to serve for the good and prosperity of the SCO and each of its members.
There is no doubt that this legendary city will open another chapter of the SCO success story. The glorious historical heritage of Samarkand will contribute to this.
For many centuries, this city has been threading together countries from Europe to China, merging North and South, East and West into a single node,” the article reads.
As noted, historically Samarkand has been a melting pot of ideas and knowledge. “And everybody has known that the friendly neighbors are half of your wealth, you yourself are a blessing for them, because you know that cooperation, trade, oeuvre, science, art and the best ideas do good, enrich and bring nations together.”
“These unique qualities of Samarkand, which today has a modern and dynamically developing infrastructure, turning it into the most suitable and demanded platform for joint discussions, searching for necessary responses to regional and global challenges.
The integrity and interconnectivity of mankind are such that most challenges require joint work not only at the regional level, but also in the global arena.
Relying on the experience of our many years of joint work, we are confident that the Samarkand SCO summit will set an example of how we can launch a new, inclusive dialogue based on the principles of mutual respect, trust and constructive cooperation for the sake of common security and prosperity.
Samarkand can become the platform that can unite and reconcile states with different foreign policy priorities.
Historically, the world looked upon from Samarkand has been seen as single and indivisible, rather than fragmented. This is indeed the essence of the unique phenomenon of the ‘Samarkand spirit’, which can serve as the basis for a fundamentally new format of international interaction, including within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The ‘Samarkand spirit’ is designed to naturally complement the very ‘Shanghai spirit’, thanks to which more than 20 years ago our countries decided to create a new and eagerly sought organization.
Therefore, we are confident that in Samarkand we shall witness the birth of a new stage in the life of SCO – the number of its members will grow, and its future agenda will be formed, and this is highly symbolic.
We are full of optimism and are convinced that the decisions of the upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will make a feasible contribution to strengthening the dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation both at the regional level and on a global scale,” the president said.
