The significance of the SCO's potential is growing in the context of overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"The rich experience of fruitful cooperation in the field of politics, security, economy, humanitarian relations, and effective working mechanisms allow the SCO to respond adequately to emerging threats. The significance of the SCO's solid potential is especially growing in the current conditions, when collective efforts and cooperation are particularly in demand in order to overcome the political and socio-economic consequences of the COVID - 19 pandemic," Lavrov said at a meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers. As the Minister noted, the spread of the coronavirus also affects the interaction of the SCO member states.
According to the head of the foreign Ministry, during the SCO Council of Ministers, the participants will review the state of work on preparing documents for the summit in November, and discuss priority tasks for further deepening and developing foreign policy cooperation.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier, the SCO countries are quickly responding to new acute challenges, including those related to overcoming the socio-political, trade and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. According to him, at the meeting of the SCO leaders in November in the format of a video conference, further expansion of cooperation will be discussed in detail.
Previously, it was planned that the SCO summit would be held in person on July 21-23 in St. Petersburg, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SCO is an international organization founded in 2001 by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. At the SCO summit in Astana on June 9, 2017, the leaders of the SCO member States signed a decision on the admission of India and Pakistan to the organization.
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the new COVID-19 coronavirus infection a pandemic.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from RIA Novosti