On 31 January, the SCO Centre for Friendship and Cooperation in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, hosted a roundtable discussion The SCO in a Changing World: Towards the New Delhi Summit, which was devoted to India’s presidency in the SCO.
The participants and speakers included Director of the SCO Centre for Friendship and Cooperation in Tajikistan Abdukhalil Gafurzoda, Acting SCO National Coordinator in the Republic of Tajikistan Ahmad Saidmurodzoda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Tajikistan Viraj Singh, former SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov, Head of the Department for SCO Affairs at the Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan Rakhshon Sultoni, ambassadors from SCO member states and observer states, the Secretary-General of the SCO Committee for Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, the Director of the SCO Centre for Public Diplomacy in Uzbekistan, the First Deputy Secretary-General of the Eurasian People’s Assembly and the Chairperson of the SCOLAR Network, an SCO youth initiative platform.
The participants conducted an interested exchange of opinions on the SCO’s place and role in a changing world. They noted that, amid the crisis in international relations, the SCO remained an attractive cooperation model which generates important initiatives aimed at strengthening international cooperation and promoting the security and sustainable development of partner states that share the values of the Shanghai Spirit.
The roundtable participants noted that active preparations for the SCO Heads of State Council meeting in New Delhi confirmed the commitment of the SCO member states to creating additional conditions that would strengthen collective capabilities for maintaining security in the SCO region, countering the Three Evils and illegal drug trafficking, and ensuring joint prosperity. They agreed that the upcoming SCO Summit in India will undoubtedly be a success and will allow the Organisation to achieve a new level of cooperation.
