The 22nd Summit of the Council of Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States (SCO) commenced  on Thursday, in Uzbekistan’s city of Samarkand.

On the second day of the Summit on Friday, Meeting of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held in a smaller format, with discussions focussing on regional security challenges, trade, and energy supply, among other issues.

The summit brings together world leaders for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020, including presidents of Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the prime ministers of Pakistan and India.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is considered one of the most important conclaves in the Central Asian region.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the SCO Charter and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation of the SCO Member States, global attention has been placed on the upcoming Samarkand Summit of the SCO, where leaders will discuss how to jointly address global challenges and promote security and development.

Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO 2022. India will be the next chair of the organisation.

Multilateral collaboration with international and regional organizations, in particular, Uzbekistan’s participation in the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, is of particular importance.

The transfer of the chairmanship of the Organization to Uzbekistan for 2021-2022 has become a logical continuation of Uzbekistan’s active and open foreign policy, implemented over the past 6 years.

Over 80 events were held in all areas of cooperation during Uzbekistan’s chairmanship in the SCO.

Undoubtedly, one of the main goals of the Samarkand Summit is the issue of further expansion of the SCO family. On the sidelines of the SCO summit held in Uzbekistan, Iran has signed a Memorandum of Obligations to become a permanent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Also, Arab Republic of Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and State of Qatar signed Wednesday in Tashkent a memorandum of understanding (MoU) concerning their accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a Dialogue Partner.


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