Putin was referring to the sanctions that Russia faces from Europe in the aftermath of it’s ongoing war with Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said that his country will stand up against Western sanctions and ‘provocations’.
Addressing the virtual SCO summit, Putin said Moscow planned to boost ties with the grouping and supported the transition to settlements in local currencies in foreign trade.
He also warned that the potential for conflicts and the risk of a global economic crisis were on the rise.
Putin was referring to the sanctions that Russia faces from Europe in the aftermath of it’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
रूसी राष्ट्रपति पुतिन के भाषण की मुख्य बातें 🌐 राष्ट्रपति पुतिन का कहना है कि #SCO संयुक्त राष्ट्र की केंद्रीय भूमिका के साथ एक न्यायपूर्ण विश्व व्यवस्था स्थापित करने के लिए प्रतिबद्ध है।
रूसी राष्ट्रपति ने कहा, रूस के खिलाफ एक हाइब्रिड युद्ध छेड़ा जा रहा है।
The SCO summit began Tuesday through virtual mode with the opening address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said that SCO shouldn’t hesitate in criticising countries supporting cross-border terrorism.
India holds the presidency of SCO currently. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are also participating in the virtual summit.
Meanwhile, the Russian President thanked PM Modi for organising the summit. “I would like to thank PM Modi for organising this summit. Russia supports the New Delhi declaration which gives a consolidated approach to international issues.
“We will continue to strengthen ties with SCO member states,” Putin said.
“Another focus of the SCO is the current situation in Afghanistan. The situation, regrettably, is not becoming better. The SCO’s priority must be counter terrorism, counter radicalism, extremism and to counter drug trafficking,” the Russian President added.
This was Putin’s first appearance at an international event after a failed coup attempt by Wagner group against his government in late June.
The Indian initiative to introduce English as a working language has received tacit support…reports Asian Lite News
India will once again push for the use of English as one of the main working languages of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which uses Mandarin and Russian as its official language, according to sources.
The Indian initiative to introduce English as a working language has received tacit support according to sources. “This is something that has been emphasized a lot by other members too and there is a common understanding emerging,” the sources said.
Russian and Mandarin are presently used as official and working languages in SCO. The group’s documents are also prepared in these two languages. Besides Russia and China, four Central Asian states are among the founder members of SCO and Russian is widely spoken and written.
India is currently hosting a two-day-long SCO CFM in Goa with the most important work before the SCO Foreign Ministers will be to assess the status of decisions that will be approved at the SCO Summit in New Delhi in July.
With a focus on the regional, defence and political issue, India got the chairmanship of the grouping last year at the Samarkand summit and is hosting key ministerial meetings in the run-up to the SCO summit in July.
With its Secretariat in Beijing, the SCO comprises of eight member states, including India and Pakistan, China and Russia and the Central Asian states Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
This is the first time that India has assumed the Presidency of SCO, after joining the Organisation in 2017, as a full Member State.
India took over the Presidency of SCO from Uzbekistan after the SCO Samarkand Summit on 17 September 2022.
The period of India’s presidency will culminate in the SCO Heads of State Summit which is scheduled in July in New Delhi.
“Focus on pushing English as a language other than Russian and Chinese remains during the SCO meet. This is something that has been emphasized a lot with the other members. India will lead two Working groups Innovation and startups and traditional medicine,” sources told ANI.
The theme of India’s Chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is ‘Secure-SCO’. India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001.
MEA Secretary Dammu Ravi, who is also in Goa, said the Foriegn Ministers’ meeting in Goa will also give an opportunity to discuss the state of multilateral cooperation in SCO, regional and global issues of interest, reform and modernization of the Organisation and the progress of admitting Iran and Belarus to the SCO as new Member States.
Currently, eight countries enjoy the status of the SCO full members: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; four countries — Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia — have an observer status with the SCO, and six countries — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka — have a dialogue partner status.
The last meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. (By Ayushi Agarwal/ANI)
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.(photo: facebook.com/khawajamuhammad.asifmna.3)
The two-day meeting of the SCO Defence Ministers will kick off on April 27 in the Indian capital….reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will attend the meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers virtually while skipping attending the event in person at a time when his counterparts from China and Russia will be in New Delhi this week, media reports said.
The two-day meeting of the SCO Defence Ministers will kick off on April 27 in the Indian capital.
India had invited the Pakistani Defence Minister as well as other SCO members for the meeting. However, Asif will join the meeting via video link, according to official sources, Express Tribune reported.
India is currently the President of SCO and is holding a series of events this year that would culminate with the summit in July.
SCO comprises China, Russia, India, Pakistan and four Central Asian States. India and Pakistan were admitted full members of the regional grouping in 2017. Despite tensions, both sides attended SCO events including joint counter-terrorism drills by member states.
The decision to send Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa in May was seen as surprising.
Given the current state of the relationship, many were expecting either Pakistan would downgrade its participation or the minister would attend the conference virtually, Express Tribune reported.
If Bilawal Bhutto’s visit goes without any major hiccup, there is a possibility that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may travel to New Delhi in July for the summit meeting, Express Tribune reported.
Though no one is confirming, the visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister is seen as a result of some back-channel efforts. It is believed that common friends of India and Pakistan wanted Bilawal Bhutto to travel to India in an effort to break the ice, it added.
After intensive in-house debate, it was decided that Bilawal Bhutto would lead the Pakistan delegation. The meeting is scheduled for May 4 and 5 in the Indian tourist destination of Goa.
Bilawal Bhutto’s participation will likely overshadow the SCO meeting to be attended by Russian and Chinese Foreign Ministers. This would be the first visit by Pakistan Foreign Minister to India since 2011. There is a possibility of courtesy call between him and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the meeting, Express Tribune reported.
Observers believe that the visit of Bilawal Bhutto would be a challenge for both Pakistan and India given the likely media hype accompanying his trip.
The visit holds massive importance as Bilawal will be the first Foreign Minister to visit India after a gap of nearly 12 years…reports Hamza Ameer
In a crucial decision that may be the first step towards normalisation of ties between the two nuclear-powered neighbours, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has decided to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in India next month.
This was announced at the briefing of Foreign Office is Islamabad on Thursday, where the spokesperson of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Mumtaz Zahra Baloch formally announced that Bilawal will be travelling to Goa from May 4-5th to participate in the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
She said Bilawal will be attending the meeting at the invitation of India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
“Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO Charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” Baloch said.
“Pakistan continues to participate in SCO meetings in keeping with our longstanding commitment to SCO.”
Thursday’s development comes at a time when diplomatic ties between the two nations were halted after the Balakot airstrikes in 2019.
The visit also holds massive importance as Bilawal will be the first Foreign Minister to visit India after a gap of nearly 12 years.
The last Foreign Minister to visit India was Hina Rabbani Khar in July 2011.
In January, India had extended an invitation to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister along with all other member states of the SCO to attend the meeting.
Since the invite by India, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has been deliberating on the matter to decide on how it should respond to the invitation.
Diplomatic sources maintained that it was discussed that Bilawal should not refuse the invitation but participate in the meeting through a video link, instead of travelling to India.
However, with the decision to travel to Goa for the meeting, many see it as a hope for positive forward movement towards engagement and normalisation of strained ties between the two crucial members of the SCO and major role players of the region at large.
Moreover, with Pakistan’s positive nod on the invitation to attend the meeting in Goa, a subsequent SCO meeting on security is also in the pipeline, an invitation of which has also been extended towards Pakistan by India.
But at the moment, it remains uncertain if Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif will be making a trip to India or will be representing Pakistan virtually.
“Bilawal Bhutto’s visit to India would be seen as an ice-breaking move. It will be symbolically significant. Though it may not bring any dramatic changes in bilateral relationship,” stated Kamran Yousaf, a senior political analyst.
The SCO member countries represent around 42% of the world population and 25% of the global GDP…reports Asian Lite News
India will host the 8-nation summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on July 4. The summit will take place in New Delhi, highly placed sources told India Narrative. The SCO comprises India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, covering most of Eurasia. Iran will become the ninth member of the grouping from April this year.
The SCO member countries represent around 42% of the world population and 25% of the global GDP.
Nevertheless, the member states have differed on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with India being at the forefront of objecting to Beijing’s pan-Eurasian initiative, citing issues of sovereignty. New Delhi has strongly opposed the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through Gilgit-Baltistan—a part of undivided Kashmir, which had acceded to India in 1947—but was militarily annexed by Pakistan.
Nevertheless, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), a permanent body based in Uzbekistan, has been functioning fairly smoothly. RATS has been found useful in building counter-terrorism capacity of the SCO member states.
It also holds annual Joint Anti-Terrorist Exercises since 2006 to help member countries remaining safe from acts of terrorism. By the month end, India will host a meeting of the National Security Advisors of the grouping, where the big-picture of regional terrorism is expected to be discussed.
The organisation has also sharpened its focus on developing tourism, leveraging the grouping’s civilizational strengths. Currently, India is hosting the SCO Tourism Ministers’ Meeting (TMM) at Kashi (Varanasi), which has been designated as the first cultural capital of the SCO.
The two-day meeting is expected to yield a Tourism Joint Action Plan for member countries. It is expected to focus on branding SCO tourism, promotion of the cultural heritage of the SCO member states, information exchange using digital technology as well as medical and health tourism. During 2022 Samarkand SCO summit Prime Minister Narendra Modi had encouraged the SCO on the use and development of traditional medicine as well as building diversified and resilient supply chains.
India is busy tackling terrorist infiltration from Pakistan as well as serious border tensions with China…reports Asian Lite News
The Economist magazine has termed the Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) a ‘Talking Shop’ and perhaps rightly so. Once again vital regional challenges such as cooperation, connectivity and economy that the region faces have been ignored at the 22nd SCO Summit held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, between September 15-16.
At least four of the permanent members of SCO are a loggerhead with each other or with their immediate neighbours. The Russian war in Ukraine has created uncertainty about the global supply of gas and oil.
Pakistan is grappling with terrorism in its northern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa as well as wrestling with armed separatists in southwestern province of Balochistan. Diplomatic tensions run high with Afghanistan after Pakistan accused the former of providing the UN designated terrorist Masood Azhar with sanctuary.
India is busy tackling terrorist infiltration from Pakistan as well as serious border tensions with China.
It was obvious from the start that this summit will not be a collective consultative conference but will end up becoming an opportunity for SCO member states to hold one-to-one meetings on the side lines.
On September 15, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting with the president of Uzbekistan signing a $16 billion investment deal. Another deal sealed at the SCO summit sideline meetings was that between Russian and Uzbekistan which amounts to $4.6 billion.
According to the deal signed with China it will construct a China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. The deal signed with Russia were in machinery, chemicals, petrochemicals and geology sectors of Uzbekistan’s economy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which Russia promised to support Turkey becoming a permanent member of the SCO in return for Turkey not to object the gas pipeline of which 750 km has already been laid down via Iran and needs to be build a further 250 km into Pakistani territory.
During a half-an-hour closed door meeting held at the Summer Palace residence of the president of Uzbekistan between Xi Jinping and Erdogan it is believed that a billion-dollar grain deal was struck which will enable China to earn billions of dollars from Turkey.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan choked several times during his speech to the summit describing that his country had turned into “a sea of water”, but no collective relief package was offered, leaving him high and dry.
Moreover, the SCO summit failed to persuade Putin to end the devastating war in Ukraine or for that matter the China’s illegal economic expansion into the disputed territories of Gilgit-Baltistan under the guise of the so-called CPEC, which is part of her larger Belt and Road Initiative program.
The Russian president and Chinese head of state both seemed to have come to a trade fair. Both were cutting trade deals left,right and centre. Putin was negotiating the price of gas and oil sale to pauper Pakistan and Xi was expanding Belt and Road Initiative into central Asia via Uzbekistan.
The purpose of the summit should have been to collectively find solutions to the menace of terrorist, slack connectivity and solving the energy crisis. Instead it ludicrously became an exercise of collective inaction.
Tensions among SCO member states run so high that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unable to hold a one-to-one meeting with his Pakistan and Chinese counterparts.
One of the main reason for SCO summit to fail to come up with a joint declaration seems to be the lack of will of both China and Russia to withdraw from their desire to expand their hegemonic influence among their economic and political spheres.
None of the above countries initiated a debate in their home countries for peace and reconciliation. The war jingoism which has become the benchmark of Xi’s politics has antagonized the wider Chinese population to an extent that to reverse that could become a cause for Xi’s downfall.
Therefore, there was no collectively agreed agenda for the summit to discuss. No pre-summit discussion was held among the leaders of the member countries which would have been a precursor for any productive road map.
The only country that stood its ground was India as Modi moved among the world leader like a sage advising Putin to consider peaceful means to forward his diplomatic ambitions.
India has become the fifth largest economy of the world surpassing the UK. As India moves forward to become the new manufacturing hub of the world, it is most unlikely that SCO will be able to become a forum for regional peace and economic cooperation. China, it seems, will use all means available to sabotage India.
India’s economic growth is led by the desire to meet the needs of both its population and wider world. China’s economic growth, on the other hand, is driven by imperialistic economic expansionism driven by greed.
Modi’s advice to Putin that this was the era of peace is the key approach to achieve regional peace which in turn is vital for the region.
However, for this to happen the member countries of the SCO will have to strike a balance between need and greed. For now, it seems it will take quite some time before the current conflict between need and greed will resolve itself.
(Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur in PoJK. He currently lies in exile in the UK.)
SCO should strive to develop “reliable, resilient and diversified” supply chains in the region, said Modi…reports Asian Lite News
Addressing the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit here on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that as the world faces challenges of economic recovery after the global Covid-19 pandemic, the role of the SCO is very important.
Speaking in Hindi, the Prime Minister said that the bloc contributes to 30 per cent of the global GDP, while 40 per cent of the world’s population resides in the member countries.
He went on to say that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and the global pandemic have led to disruptions in global supply chains, leaving the world facing unprecedented energy and food crises.
Hence, the SCO should strive to develop “reliable, resilient and diversified” supply chains in the region, Modi added.
The Prime Minister announced the establishment of a new working group on startups and innovation, adding that the country is also making progress towards becoming a manufacturing hub.
He said that India’s economy is expected to grow 7.5 per cent this year, which is the highest among the world’s biggest economies.
He also spoke about food security, which he termed as a major challenge, and suggested that the cultivation and consumption of millets could be a possible solution.
The Prime Minister called millets “superfood”, adding that it could be a nutritious and low-cost alternative to overcome the food challenge.
Modi went on to say that 2023 will be celebrated as the UN International Year of Millets and “we should consider organizing a ‘Millet Food Festival’ under SCO”.
In his address, he also touted India as one of the most affordable countries for medical and wellness tourism and urged the SCO member nations to cooperate in the field of traditional medicine.
India will host the summit in 2023, which would initiate the process of Iran becoming a full member of the eight-nation influential grouping…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese President Xi Jingping today extended his good wishes to India on taking over the chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, adding that Beijing will support New Delhi in organising the summit next year.
India will host the summit in 2023, which would initiate the process of Iran becoming a full member of the eight-nation influential grouping.
Launched in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has eight full members, including its six founding members, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017.
PM pushes for ‘transit rights’
Members should grant each other transit rights to ensure better connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing the 22nd regional summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan today. He said better connectivity is needed in the regional grouping as there was a global food and energy crisis after global supply chains were affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“The SCO needs to focus on bringing diversified and resilient supply chains…for this, better connectivity and access to transit is required,” PM Modi said, adding that India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
The PM said the innovative use of technology is being focused on in our people-centric development model, and India is ready to collaborate with SCO nations.
PM, At SCO Summit, Pushes For ‘Transit Rights’ Among Member States
SCO Summit: PM Modi said India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
New Delhi: Members should grant each other transit rights to ensure better connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing the 22nd regional summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan today. He said better connectivity is needed in the regional grouping as there was a global food and energy crisis after global supply chains were affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“The SCO needs to focus on bringing diversified and resilient supply chains…for this, better connectivity and access to transit is required,” PM Modi said, adding that India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
The PM said the innovative use of technology is being focused on in our people-centric development model, and India is ready to collaborate with SCO nations.
“We are working towards transforming India into a manufacturing hub…We are supporting innovation in every sector. Today there are more than 70,000 start-ups and over 100 unicorns in our country,” he said.
On tackling the challenges of food security, he spoke of India’s efforts to popularise millets as an alternative and cheap option.
He also appealed for collaboration on traditional medicine. “India is one of the most economical countries in the world for medical and wellness tourism… We should enhance cooperation between SCO countries for traditional medicine,” he said.
PM Modi later summarised his five-minute remark in a tweet along with pictures from the summit.
“At the SCO Summit in Samarkand, emphasised on the constructive role SCO can play in the post-COVID era particularly in furthering economic recovery and strengthening supply chains. Highlighted India’s emphasis on people-centric growth which also gives importance to technology,” he said.
“At the SCO Summit, also emphasised on tackling the challenge of food security. In this context, also talked about India’s efforts to further popularise millets. SCO can play a big role in marking 2023 as International Year of Millets,” he added in another tweet.
PM, Xi skip informal dinner
In fact, despite being at Samarkand, Xi Jingping was not seen in any of the videos shared by the hosts as the heads of council went on a tour of the Eternal city. The Eternal city is part of the New Tourist Complex – the venue of the SCO summit.
In the videos, Russian President Vladimir Putin can be seen walking right in front along with the host, Uzbekistan President Shavket Mirziyoyev.
Earlier, Modi and Xi skipped the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) pre-summit group events on Thursday, including the formal dinner. PM Modi was among the last leaders to arrive at Samarkand, ruling out his participation in the pre-summit events.
Neither of the two world leaders were seen in the photograph of leaders after the informal dinner, released late night on Thursday.
India is well-placed to be a neutral arbiter among the highly-divided factions in the emerging global order because it has always fielded for the common good, rather than partisan strategic objectives…reports Asian Lite News
The 22nd Summit of the Council of Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Member States (SCO-COHS) being held at Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 15-16 has hogged much limelight due to the ongoing turbulence in geopolitics, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions over Taiwan.
The SCO Summit is taking place at a time when there are sharp differences between the West, China and Russia on the issues of sovereignty, democracy, human rights and economic sanctions, to name a few, and the prevailing flux on who is with whom.
Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulates India for hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, next year.
"We will support India for its presidency next year", said Chinese President Xi Jinping#SCOSummit2022
India is well-placed to be a neutral arbiter among the highly-divided factions in the emerging global order because it has always fielded for the common good, rather than partisan strategic objectives.
India’s participation in the SCO assumes importance because it is expected to do a balancing act by bringing forth the main issues of concern to the SCO members, including cooperation for economic growth and promotion of trade and investment, climatic change and sustainable development and terrorism at a time when there is a danger of SCO being dominated by groupism within and against the West.
The bilaterals on the sidelines of the SCO Summit offer important opportunity to all the member countries to enhance their ties with other members and break the stalemate on crucial issues.
The success and failure of the SCO would be judged by its potential to address the issues of common interest on one hand, and making way through open-minded bilateral engagements on the sidelines to remove doubts and open a gateway towards resolving bilateral frictions on the other.
It is important for the SCO members to appreciate that the organisation is one of the largest multilateral organisations in the world, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the global GDP and 40 per cent of the world’s population.
The cooperation among SCO members for economic development, building collective response to climatic change and sustainable development and combating terrorism will count not only on post Covid-19 economic recovery, but in bringing peace and prosperity in the long run.
India being aware of this vast potential of SCO has always wished to use this forum for bringing and promoting peace, prosperity and cohesion based on the principle of mutual co-existence and win-win strategies for all the stakeholders.
Since 2017, when it became a full-fledged member of the SCO, India has made sincere efforts to encourage peace, prosperity, and stability of the whole Eurasian region in general and SCO member countries in particular.
India has also repeatedly called for the deepening of cooperation on regional security related concerns including defence,countering terrorism and illicit drug and narcotics trade etc.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the Summit is being keenly watched by the business communities of the region. India is expected to use the platform to push the agenda of regional and cross-regional connectivity and remove barriers to transport, communication and trade.
Since Pakistan remains stubborn on the issue of removing these barriers, India is expected to push in the Summit the Chabahar Port project and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to allow the Central Asian countries and SCO members to realise full potential of trade, economic cooperation and people-to-people contact.
India, Iran and Uzbekistan have already established a tri-lateral working group since 2020 to seek greater convergence on Chabahar Port and other connectivity projects.
With the SCO members looking up to graduating into the list of high income countries, uninterrupted energy supply would be crucial. In view of this, PM Modi is expected to urge the SCO members to ensure energy cooperation and remove all the glitches in the ongoing projects, including the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan-India (TAPI) power transmission line.
The SCO has come of age. The Shanghai Five formed in 1996, became the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 with the inclusion of Uzbekistan. With India and Pakistan entering the grouping in 2017 and the decision to admit Tehran as full member in 2021, the SCO’s membership increased to eight (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan).
There are four observer states interested in acquiring full membership, including Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO and India would be the next in line. India is being looked up with hope to take SCO to the next level to make it an effective platform for promoting cooperation for peace, prosperity and sustainable development.
In an article published on his official website, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed confidence that the event scheduled for September 15-16 will “mark the birth of a new stage” in the organisation’s history…reports Asian Lite News
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is set to expand at its upcoming summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, the host nations President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has announced.
The SCO is the largest regional bloc in the world, comprising eight members including Russia, China and India.
In an article published on his official website on Monday, Mirziyoyev expressed confidence that the event scheduled for September 15-16 will “mark the birth of a new stage” in the organisation’s history.
“The number of [SCO] members will grow, and its future agenda will be formed, and this is highly symbolic,” the leader of the Central Asian nation wrote.
There are currently eight full members of the group: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Two countries — Iran and Belarus — are in the process of joining the SCO and have observer status, along with Afghanistan and Mongolia.
Mirziyoyev believes the Samarkand gathering will be remembered for the launch of “a new, inclusive dialogue”.
In a world suffering from a “deep crisis of trust” and geopolitical confrontation, the SCO should become “a pole of attraction without dividing lines, in the name of peace, cooperation and progress”, he stated.
One of the key goals of the SCO is to expand its cooperation with Afghanistan which, Mirziyoyev believes, “should try on a new peaceful mission of connecting Central and South Asia”.
The SCO encompasses 40 per cent of the world’s population, and more than 30 per cent of global GDP.
In September 2021, the SCO had launched technical procedures for Iran’s admission. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Special Envoy for SCO Affairs, Bakhtiyor Khakimov, said at the time that the accession process would take a considerable amount of time.
Belarus was the latest country to apply for SCO membership. Its bid was announced by Khakimov in June this year, RT reported.
Modi-Sharif meet unlikely
Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has no plans to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, this week.
“No meeting is envisaged with the Indian Prime Minister,” Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar told Dawn news.
An official said though a brief courtesy meeting between the two was possible, they would not be holding talks saying none of the two sides have sought a meeting.
The Foreign Office in a statement, however, confirmed that Prime Minister Sharif would attend the 22nd annual Meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of SCO.
“Besides attending the summit, the Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings with other participating leaders on the sidelines of the CHS,” it said.
The Pakistani leader will be participating in the CHS meeting on the invitation of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who would chair it.
The leaders of SCO members and observer states as well as the heads of SCO organisations and other special guests would attend the meeting.
The CHS is the highest forum of the SCO, which considers and defines strategy, prospects and priorities of the organisation.
At the forthcoming CHS, the SCO leaders will deliberate on important global and regional issues, including climate change, food security energy security, and sustainable supply chains.
They would also approve agreements and documents that would chart the future direction of cooperation among SCO member states.
The SCO is a major trans-regional organisation spanning South and Central Asia.
Founded in 2001, the SCO upholds the values and principles enshrined in the “Shanghai Spirit” that include mutual trust, mutual benefit and pursuit of common development, Dawn reported.
