SCO Secretary-General takes part in the eighth CICA roundtable discussion

On 21 December 2020, the SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov delivered a speech at the opening of the eighth roundtable discussion of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) organised by the Shanghai Institute for International Studies and the CICA Secretariat.

Taking part in the meeting were senior administrative officials of the CICA Secretariat, representatives of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and leading expert communities from India, Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran, Malaysia and South Korea.

The meeting agenda included the discussion of the current state and prospects of Asian regional cooperation in the area of security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SCO Secretary-General stated that the coronavirus pandemic had shown the close interconnectedness of today's world, which meant it was necessary to develop and strengthen mechanisms for joint response to sudden threats. According to Vladimir Norov, it was especially important under these conditions to prevent aggravation of risks to global and regional security and stability, including in the SCO and CICA spaces.

The SCO Secretary-General said that inclusive depoliticised cooperation between global powers was necessary in the interests of the common cause of minimising threats to people's lives and health.

The participants in the roundtable discussion were informed about the outcome of the SCO Moscow Summit held on 10 November 2020, including in the context of developing joint measures to counter the threat of epidemics in the region as well as common approaches to fighting terrorism, separatism, extremism, and illegal drug trafficking, and to ensuring international information security.

Vladimir Norov reaffirmed readiness to further expand cooperation between the SCO and CICA as two partner organisations with activities aimed at developing joint measures to promote trust and cooperation in Asia.