Shavkat Mirziyoyev: SCO should maintain the status of not joining blocks

The SCO Council of heads of state held a meeting in a narrow format.

Photo: Presidential press service

On September 16, in Samarkand, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a narrow-format meeting of the heads SCO member states.

The event was attended by PM of India Narendra Modi, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, PRC President Xi Jinping, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Zhang Ming and Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO-RATS) Ruslan Mirzaev.

At the Samarkand summit, more than 40 agreements and decisions were presented to be signed. They reflect the general approaches of the SCO countries to cooperation in areas such as strengthening interdependence, industrial cooperation, “green” economy, digitization, and trade.

The President of Uzbekistan emphasized that SCO should maintain the status of not joining blocks, the spirit of openness and broad cooperation, adhere to the principles of compromise, equal rights and mutual respect.

Taking this into account and relying on the effective experience of multilateral partnership within the SCO, the head of state put forward proposals and initiatives to solve priority tasks in the main areas of cooperation in recent years.

Adaptation of SCO activities to today’s reality, cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment, strengthening of interdependence in terms of transport, ecological issues, cultural-humanitarian relations were discussed. Special attention was paid to security problems and the regulation of the situation in Afghanistan.

At the end of his speech, the President emphasized that the future of the SCO and development of the countries largely depend on cooperation and effective work. “Together, we are able to take the organization to new horizons in order to ensure regional and global security, development and prosperity of our countries and peoples,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev concluded.

In their speeches, leaders of the member states touched upon the current issues of development of cooperation within the SCO, regional and international security problems.