President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is participating today in the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is participating today in the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
The SCO summit will summarise the organisation's activities over 20 years, as well as the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation. More than 40 documents have been prepared for consideration at the summit.
The heads of state will discuss further steps to overcome the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and other issues of regional and international cooperation. The meeting is also expected to decide on launching the procedure for admitting Iran as a full member of the SCO and granting the status of dialogue partner to Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
The organisation celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, and the summit in Dushanbe is a юбилейный (anniversary) one. Tajikistan has chosen a suitable venue for this event: the meeting of heads of state is taking place in the "Kokhi Navruz" state complex. This is one of the largest palaces in the world, built in 2014. It has become a pearl of modern Dushanbe, and the Tajik side intends to initiate the inclusion of the complex in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The main attraction of the Navruz Palace (which means "new day" in Tajik) are its four magnificent halls, which host high-level meetings, conferences, and banquets. Two of them, "Didor" and "Zarandud," hosted the leaders of the SCO countries today. Dozens of tonnes of semi-precious stones and valuable wood species were used for the decoration of the halls. The chandelier adorning the "Zarandud" hall is one of the largest in the world. It weighs 6.7 tonnes and consists of 1.6 thousand light bulbs.
What is the SCO?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a permanently operating intergovernmental international organisation. Its creation was announced on June 15 in Shanghai by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Prior to this, the countries had been working within the framework of the "Shanghai Five" – without Uzbekistan. This political association was founded on the Agreement on the Enhancement of Confidence in the Military Field in Border Areas (Shanghai, 1996) and the Agreement on Mutual Reduction of Armed Forces in Border Areas (Moscow, 1997).
Currently, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) comprises eight member states: in addition to its founding members, these include India and Pakistan, which joined in 2017. Belarus was granted observer status in the SCO in 2015. Three other countries – Afghanistan, Iran, and Mongolia – hold the same status within the organisation. The SCO also has six dialogue partners: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.
The growth rates of the SCO member economies, their military capabilities (four nuclear powers are among the organisation's members), and their successes on the international stage indicate a positive development dynamic for the organisation. It is not for nothing that the Arab League shows great interest in its work.
What does the SCO do?
The SCO primarily focuses on security and maintaining peace in the region. The SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure plays an important role in this. It has established close contacts with relevant UN, OSCE, Interpol, CSTO, and CIS Anti-Terrorist Centre structures.
The SCO engages in political, economic, and humanitarian cooperation. Countries are increasingly prioritising the development of economic cooperation with a focus on digitalisation. An agreement on the development of transport links has been signed within the organisation. The member states intend to create digital, barrier-free transport corridors and systems for tracking transit cargo by road and rail using navigation seals. Such a "green corridor" will significantly reduce the time taken for administrative procedures and increase the volume of transport services.
A food security programme was adopted in 2018. The states are working on developing modern agricultural clusters and environmentally friendly smart agriculture. Long-term prospects include the creation of a free trade area, the establishment of a development fund and bank, and the implementation of multilateral projects.
Why does Belarus participate in the SCO?
Cooperation within the SCO platform opens up significant prospects not only in the political but also in the trade and economic spheres. Observer status allows Belarus to participate in meetings of the SCO Heads of Government Council, meetings of ministers of foreign economic and foreign trade activities, conferences on trade and economic cooperation, and events of SCO non-governmental structures: the Business Council and the Interbank Association.
Of particular interest to Belarus are the improvement of the general transport space in the SCO region, international transportation, and the coordinated development of roads. This should promote the country's participation in multimodal transportation, improve transport infrastructure, and unlock transit potential.
Belarus is also developing cooperation within the SCO in the military sphere, through anti-terrorist structures. Furthermore, cooperation has been established in many areas of cultural and humanitarian cooperation and in the parliamentary sphere.
Source: belta.by