On 15-16 September this year, Samarkand will host a major international political event – the SCO Summit.

At the summit, which is expected to be attended by the heads of state of 15 countries, the main attention will be paid to strengthening mutual trust and good neighborliness between countries, effective cooperation in the political, trade, economic, scientific, technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection and others.

It should be noted that the summit, which serves as a huge platform for social, political, economic and cultural cooperation, plays an important role in the political and economic life of Uzbekistan.

UzA Correspondent interviewed the Department Head at the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Komil Aripov. It is devoted to the next SCO Summit, the issues that will be discussed at the event, the essence and significance of holding the summit in the beautiful historical city of Samarkand.

– The whole world today is on the verge of huge transformations, – said Mr. Aripov. – The recent geopolitical confrontation observed in the world, the escalation of armed conflicts in various parts of the world lead to the destruction of global supply chains, disrupt the established investment and trade cooperation between countries, and increase the threats to food and energy security. All these factors lead to an increase in the risks of the revival of opposing blocs.

The Samarkand SCO Summit is intended to become a landmark international event capable of reducing the intensity of the current geopolitical tensions in the world and taking steps to prevent the growing risks and threats to international security.

It is symbolic that it will be held in Uzbekistan, which is not involved in any conflicts with third states and bloc structures. Our country pursues a policy of good neighborliness and friendly cooperation with neighboring and other countries. This is the most important and necessary condition for uniting countries striving for sustainable development.

 The current summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is being held on 15-16 September for the first time offline after a three-year break caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

At the high-level meeting, the problems of a bilateral, global and regional nature will be comprehensively discussed. It is planned to hold a summit in expanded and contracted formats, meetings of the leaders of the SCO countries and international organizations in bilateral and trilateral formats, including with the participation of the presidents of Russia, China, Türkiye, Belarus, India, high-ranking representatives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and secretaries-general of the CIS and several regional organizations, as well as the UN Under-Secretary-General.

At the summit, it is planned to consider the initiative of membership in the SCO of the Republic of Belarus and sign a Memorandum of Commitment of the Islamic Republic of Iran to obtain the status of a member state of the SCO, as well as discuss issues of granting the status of an observer or dialogue partner for several countries, consider applications from several states for obtaining partner status by dialogue.

It is expected that the Samarkand Summit will demonstrate the formation of the SCO as the largest international organization, the space of which covers the vast zone of the Eurasian region around Central Asia.

It is noteworthy that the summit will be held in Samarkand. This city, as one of the key crossroads of the Great Silk Road, has been an attractive place for historical meetings and a center of interaction between different peoples and states since time immemorial. Samarkand has always served as a bridge for the development of international political, cultural, humanitarian, trade and economic relations. The unique heritage of Samarkand fully corresponds to the value bases of the SCO – the Shanghai Spirit, that is, the principles of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, respect for the diversity of cultures and the desire for common development.

The representative composition of the summit participants demonstrates the growing authority of Uzbekistan in the international arena. This also secures for Uzbekistan the role of a mediator, which becomes a platform for consolidating the states of the region for the sake of the common good, prosperity and sustainable development against the backdrop of ongoing rifts and the growth of hotbeds of tension in the world.

This is confirmed by Uzbekistan's successful regional policy of good neighborliness in Central Asia, thanks to which it was possible to solve the problems accumulated over many years through compromise.

The analysis shows that in terms of the number of initiatives put forward and implemented, Uzbekistan has a leading position in the SCO. At the same time, if in the past years the Uzbek side was active mainly in security, now qualitatively new and practically significant initiatives are being put forward in economic development, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.

Uzbekistan’s new initiatives have given a powerful impetus to the development of cooperation and have made it possible to launch qualitatively new formats of cooperation within the framework of the SCO. A vivid confirmation of this is the mechanisms of meetings of the heads of railway administrations, heads of poverty reduction, ministers for the development of ICT, the activities of the SCO Public Diplomacy Center in Uzbekistan, the “Silk Road” International University of Tourism in the city of Samarkand.

All this indicates that Uzbekistan firmly adheres to the position that the consolidation of the potential of all SCO member states, the use of common resources, geographic, industrial and technological capabilities can give not only a powerful impetus to the development of their national economies, but also provide new growth dynamics in the Eurasian space and will make a significant contribution to global development. First of all, we are talking about joint efforts to develop such strategic areas as energy, transport, communications and the agro-industrial complex.

Uzbekistan’s positions and approaches to the priorities and prospects of the SCO have always been unambiguous. Official Tashkent consistently supports the non-bloc status of this Organization and considers it expedient to focus on the economic direction of its activities.

Interviewed by Nasiba Ziyodullayeva, UzA