The Samarkand summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will open a new page of its success story, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Monday.
"There is no doubt that this legendary city will open another page in the success story of the SCO. The glorious historical heritage of Samarkand will contribute to this. For many centuries, this city, as if by threads, connected countries from Europe to China, connecting the north and south, east and west into a single knot," Mirziyoyev said in an article titled "Samarkand SCO Summit: Dialogue and Cooperation in an Interconnected World" published on his website prior to the SCO Summit, which will be held September 15-16 in Samarkand. The Uzbekistan head of state noted that Samarkand is ready to meet the leaders of 14 nations "with new breakthrough proposals and initiatives."
According to him, the upcoming summit will set an example of "how we can launch a new, inclusive dialogue based on the principles of mutual respect, trust and constructive cooperation for the sake of common security and prosperity" and that "Samarkand can become the platform that can unite and reconcile states with different foreign policy priorities."
The SCO is an international organization founded in 2001, whose members include China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The observer countries are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia; the partner countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka. It is expected that at the upcoming summit the procedure of admission of Iran as a full member of the organization will be completed and the application of Belarus to join the SCO as a full member will be accepted.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS