Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Vladimir Norov gave an interview to TASS (Russia), in which he talked about the interaction of the SCO countries in a global pandemic, Dunyo reports.

“The scale of the epidemic that took place in China in January and February allowed many countries to assess in advance the degree of impending threat and take preventive measures,” the SCO Secretary General said in an interview with Russian journalists. - In mid-March, the epidemic landscape began to change dramatically, and the SCO countries also found themselves face to face with this previously unknown dangerous disease. In order to avoid the widespread spread of the virus in many SCO member states, an emergency regime is currently in place, staffs, committees and commissions have been set up responsible for the epidemiological situation and conducting systematic work, mobilizing the necessary resources.”

In this regard, V. Norov highlighted a number of key factors that appeared on the background of the fight against the pandemic.

“Firstly, the population of the SCO countries took with understanding the forced measures to cancel classes at educational institutions, restrict the activities of enterprises, close transport links and borders, and transfer public and entertainment events.

Secondly, all government bodies have been mobilized, primarily the sectors responsible for health, which are working to combat the epidemic of coronavirus in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization. Ministries of health are showing a willingness to quickly and effectively counter the wave of the virus, but, like everywhere else, there are cases of infection of the doctors themselves in the process. In this regard, measures are being taken to support medical workers who are at the forefront of the fight against the dangerous virus. And without that, the stressful everyday life of doctors has now turned into a real battle, they, at the risk of their lives, treat the infected, and at the same time remain calm and cheerful. This attitude of doctors to their work and patients causes deep respect and appreciation. In this regard, the governments of the SCO countries are taking measures to materially encourage the work of doctors and health workers, which is quite fair and justified, taking into account the degree of danger of treating patients with coronavirus. I think that care at the state level, unity of mind, solidarity and moral support from the population of the efforts of doctors gives them additional strength and a sense of confidence in overcoming this common threat.

Thirdly, in the fight against coronavirus, the opportunities of the foreign affairs agencies, which did a great job to return their citizens from other countries, were maximized.

Fourth, financial and economic resources have been mobilized. Most SCO member states have adopted anti-crisis packages of measures that define the rights and obligations of citizens in connection with the introduction of an emergency, in addition, measures are provided to support public and private enterprises, save wages, reduce taxes, and provide assistance to the most vulnerable social groups.

Law enforcement agencies and the defense forces have also consolidated their full potential and ensure social stability and take the necessary measures to prevent the negative trends that are observed in some countries of the world amid growing epidemic proportions. Unfortunately, some citizens are irresponsible, in particular, in many countries of the world there is a spread of inaccurate information related to coronavirus, concealment of symptoms of a disease or intentional infection of others, organized crime is growing through the Internet, the production of counterfeit medical goods and medicines. There is also a risk that terrorist and extremist forces will use the situation that arises due to coronavirus, imposing many restrictions and burdens on the functioning of key public safety services.

The epidemic is also experiencing the reliability of the widespread use of information and communication technologies in human life. The issue of information security and the safety of critical infrastructure has become particularly urgent due to the increased attention to coronavirus in the information space, as well as the mass transfer of people to online communication and remote mode of operation, which undermines the established standards for the safe functioning of systems on the Internet. According to experts, the main threats are the leak of personal data, cyber attacks on test laboratories, medical institutions, banks, financial fraud, malicious mailings.

Given the fact that during the pandemic, the whole world faced a challenge in the field of information security, in the long term, an analysis of this experience in the organizational and technical terms as a whole is important, since there is a need for further improvement of the regulatory framework, improvement of national sustainable structures, high-tech software systems and information security tools. I think that these issues will be given special attention in the framework of the SCO, since China, India and Russia have more stable systems and mechanisms, which can be implemented in other SCO countries. I’m sure that the SCO special working group on modern information and communication technologies will analyze all the positive and vulnerable factors of the new reality, which consists in the practical establishment of a technological way of life,” he stated.

Answering the question about the interaction and mutual support of the SCO countries in this situation, the Secretary General of the organization noted that the coronavirus epidemic has become a test of unity and strength of cooperation within the framework of the association. This, according to him, primarily manifested itself in a willingness to share not only epidemiological and organizational experience, but also to provide financial, economic and food assistance to each other.

“Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the SCO member countries have been in close contact with each other at the level of heads of state, heads of ministries and departments responsible for health and public safety.

In the current difficult situation, coordination, exchange of information and mutual assistance are extremely important in overcoming all the negative consequences of the pandemic.

In our countries, it is well understood that no state can ensure its own safety by suppressing coronavirus only on its territory, while the spread of the disease continues in neighboring countries.

As you know, at the height of the epidemic in China, the SCO member states provided assistance to the Chinese government. At present, China, where the virus has declined, is providing the necessary assistance to the SCO countries by sending humanitarian supplies. Chinese and Russian experts are working on the development of a vaccine. Back in February, Russia donated test systems for laboratory diagnosis of coronavirus to the countries of Central Asia. China, Russia, Uzbekistan, despite the intense process of containing the epidemic, are now sharing their food supplies and medical supplies with the countries in greatest need of the region. In particular, Uzbekistan provided humanitarian assistance to Kyrgyzstan. According to Kyrgyz experts, this noble step shows that relations in Central Asia today have a completely different look. Help at such a difficult moment speaks of fraternal relations in the region, which seeks to cooperate, integrate and improve mutual relations, which will also have a beneficial effect on the activities of the SCO.

Russia, China, Uzbekistan also sent aid to Iran and Afghanistan, which are observer states in the SCO. Kazakhstan expressed readiness to help, if necessary, the countries of Central Asia. China sent doctors and specialists to Iran and Kazakhstan.

All this speaks of the SCO countries’ commitment to mutual support and cooperation to jointly overcome this emergency.

I am more than confident that our countries will stand the test with dignity and will emerge from the situation with an even stronger spirit with the consciousness to build a new future based on our experience, the SCO Secretary General emphasized.

At the same time, he noted that the spread of coronavirus has become a global problem that deserves attention at the highest international level. The efforts of one or several countries, as experience shows, are clearly not enough. In this regard, he noted the importance of the practical implementation of the proposals and initiatives voiced at a recent meeting of the G20 leaders, among which were leaders of the SCO member states, such as China, Russia and India.

“In particular, the proposal by President Xi Jinping to consolidate forces to accelerate the development of vaccines, the introduction of drugs and test systems seems important from the point of view of determining the most effective methods of treatment and prevention,” the interview noted. - President Vladimir Putin, proposing to create the so-called green corridors free of trade sanctions for the mutual supply of medicines, food, equipment, as well as introduce a joint moratorium on the restriction of essential goods, as well as financial transactions for purchases in relation to countries that are larger everyone suffers from a pandemic, rightly noted that we are talking about the life and death of people and this is a purely humanitarian issue.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi found paradoxical statistics that 90% of cases of COVID-19 and 88% of deaths were in G20 countries despite the fact that they own 80% of the world’s GDP and 60% of the world’s population lives in them.”

The Secretary General informed that on 1 April 2020, a meeting of experts of the ministries of health of the SCO member states was held in the form of a video conference, during which the participants reviewed the epidemiological situation in the member states, discussed issues of strengthening cooperation to strengthen control over the development of the situation with COVID-19 and search an effective method of treating patients with a confirmed diagnosis.

“We intend to continue consultations on the topic of combating coronavirus at a higher level and, together, take decisive measures to counteract the spread of the disease,” said Vladimir Norov. - In addition, to coordinate a large package of documents we will make maximum use of the meetings of the permanent representatives of the member states at the SCO secretariat in Beijing. So, on April 9, the Permanent Representatives held a meeting in the secretariat and considered a number of draft documents, such as a statement by the heads of state of the SCO member states on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Victory, a statement by the SCO member states on cooperation in the field of ensuring international information security.”

The SCO Secretary-General’s interviews were also published by the People’s Daily newspaper (China), the Islamabad Post newspaper, the Diplomatic News Agencies news agency and other information platforms.