On November 10, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in a regular meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Council of the Heads of State in videoconference format.
Chaired by President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the session was also attended by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, the Acting President, Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.
In addition, the summit participants also included representatives of SCO observer nations – President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga, Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko, as well as SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) Jumakhon Giyosov.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered a video message to the summit participants.
In accordance with the agenda of the meeting, issues of enhancement of multifaceted interaction within the SCO were in spotlight.
The heads of delegations analyzed the current state and prospects of multilateral relations in priority areas, and also exchanged views on pressing regional and international affairs.
In his speech, the President of Uzbekistan noted that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been undergoing through a fundamentally new phase of its development.
The head of our state urged the participants to preserve and enhance the traditions of good neighborliness, equality, trust and consideration of each other’s interests. According to Shavkat Mirziyoyev, never before has it been more important to cement the “Shanghai Spirit”, the unique experience of multilateral cooperation, which is “our common heritage and expresses our desire for shared development, respect for the diversity of cultures.”
Mutual support and joint search for compromises on key issues on the agenda of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization were named as the main condition for ensuring security and sustainable development in the vast Eurasian space. “The SCO is strong only when every one of us is strong”, Uzbekistan’s leader suggested.
In this regard, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has put forward a number of corresponding initiatives aimed at furthering the practical cooperation within the organization.
In particular, in order to minimize the negative consequences of the current pandemic, the head of our state proposed to boost trade, economic and investment ties through the adoption of long-term documents in the field of trade and economic interaction, as well as in the field of food security and stimulation of industrial cooperation.
Noting the growing role of information technology in ensuring economic growth, the leader of our country spoke in favor of the elaboration of SCO Program for the Development of Digital Literacy designed to train highly qualified specialists and enlighten the population on this front.
The President of Uzbekistan highlighted the importance of establishing close cooperation on poverty reduction. He proposed to deliver a mechanism for meetings of the heads of pertinent ministries and departments within the SCO framework and prepare a corresponding policy document. Readiness was expressed to host an international forum to devise coordinated measures to combat poverty.
Welcoming the approval of the SCO Comprehensive Plan of Joint Actions to Counter Threats of Epidemics, Shavkat Mirziyoyev called for intensification of cooperation to combat the spread of dangerous infections, creation of a network of medical institutions for contagious diseases, and development of a concept for interaction in telemedicine.
The head of our state noted that the issues of combating the threats of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking, themselves acquiring new forms, should remain in the focus of the SCO.
This will be facilitated by the adaptation of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure to the solution of fundamentally new tasks to ensure security in the organization’s space and build up contacts among the relevant government departments.
The President of Uzbekistan called on the summit participants to support the peace process in Afghanistan and that country’s engagement in regional trade and economic ties.
In this context, Shavkat Mirziyoyev advocated a sooner adoption of an action plan to assist the social and economic recovery within the framework of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group. Particular attention was paid to transport corridor initiatives that will help restore the country to its historic role as a bridge connecting Central and South Asia.
These and other issues can be included in the agenda of the international conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities”, scheduled for April 2021 in Tashkent at the initiative of Uzbekistan.
The SCO turns 20 next year. Ahead of this significant date, the President of our country proposed holding an international forum on the role of the organization in the system of contemporary international relations.
As a result of the summit, the Moscow Declaration of the Council of the Heads of SCO Member States was adopted, so was a package of documents aimed at enhancing the mutually advantageous multifaceted cooperation within the organization.
At the initiative of the Uzbek side, the meeting participants adopted a Statement of the Heads of SCO Member States on Cooperation in Digital Economy.
