Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 16 September, in the city of Samarkand, under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a narrow meeting of the heads of states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, as well as Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Jang Ming and Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the SCO Ruslan Mirzaev.

In accordance with the agenda of the meeting, the heads of states discussed the current state and prospects for cooperation within the SCO, as well exchanged views on topical regional and international issues in the context of the development of the political and economic situation.

In his speech, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev summed up the results of the chairmanship within the framework of the SCO in 2021-2022. As the head of our state noted, over 80 major events were held during this period. Despite the difficult consequences of the pandemic, the Plan for the Chairmanship of Uzbekistan in the SCO was implemented in full.

A solid package of documents from more than 40 agreements and decisions has been prepared for signing at the Samarkand summit. They reflect the general approaches of the SCO states to interaction in popular and promising areas of cooperation, such as strengthening interconnectedness, industrial cooperation, the "green" economy, digitalization, trade and others.

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan stressed that in a historically short period, the SCO has become an influential participant in regional and global processes. The stabilizing role of the Organization as an important factor of security and economic growth is being strengthened.

The leader of our country emphasized the need to maintain the non-bloc status of the SCO, the openness and focus of the Organization’s activities on a broad partnership, be guided by the principles of consensus, equality and mutual respect.

With this in mind, and also relying on the fruitful experience of multifaceted cooperation within the SCO, the head of our state made specific proposals to address the priority tasks of developing cooperation in the coming years.

In particular, this is the adaptation of the activities of the SCO to current realities, cooperation in the field of the economy, trade and investment, strengthening transport interconnectedness, the environmental agenda, and cultural and humanitarian ties. Particular attention is paid to the problems of security and the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

In conclusion, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that the future of the SCO and the development of our countries largely depend on joint, well-coordinated and effective work. “Together we are able to bring the Organization to new frontiers in order to ensure regional and global security, in the name of progress and prosperity of our countries and peoples,” the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan expressed his conviction.

In their speeches, the heads of state touched upon topical issues of further development of cooperation within the framework of the SCO, problems of regional and international security. It was emphasized that the Samarkand summit has a special, historical significance.

Further, the meeting of the SCO heads of state continued in an expanded format with the participation of the leaders of the observer countries, guests of honor and heads of international and regional organizations. The current summit is held for the first time in such a wide format - 14 leaders of countries take part.