At the meeting with journalists, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the SCO Secretariat Natalia Stepkina, noted that the situation in Afghanistan is still an urgent task for the SCO, so the Organization is ready to participate in restoring peaceful life in Afghanistan.

“The SCO is a supporter of the formation of a representative and inclusive government consisting of all ethnopolitical forces, which will be able to provide conditions for a peaceful life for the population of Afghanistan”, says Natalia Stepkina.

Earlier, Uzbekistan's National Coordinator for SCO Affairs, Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov, noted that Afghanistan would not take part in the SCO Samarkand Summit, the Organization temporarily has no official ties with this country. As R. Nurimbetov noted, the SCO maintained official ties with the former government of Afghanistan, but in August 2021 this government ceased its activities.

The SCO was organized in 2001 and is an international organization. Its members are Uzbekistan, Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are observer countries. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Türkiye and Sri Lanka are considered SCO partner countries. In 2022, Belarus applied for joining the Organization.

UzA