The SCO summit – the main outcome 17.11.2020 17: 29

On November 10, the Summit of the Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO) was held in a video conference format under the chairmanship of Russia, which lasted more than three hours. Recall that the SCO includes eight countries: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Four other States have observer status: Belarus, Afghanistan, Iran and Mongolia. At the same time, six countries are in the organization in the status of dialogue partners: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka. Since 2004, the SCO has been an observer at the UN General Assembly.

The current summit was unusual. For the first time in 20 years of the organization’s existence, the focus of its leaders was not on measures to deepen cooperation in the field of politics and Economics, but on the fight against coronavirus. In this regard, it is not surprising that the summit adopted, among other things, a document providing for a joint fight against the coronavirus pandemic. It follows that the SCO member States will exchange experience and even medicines to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also planned to develop measures that will mitigate the economic consequences of the disaster. “The world after the pandemic will be different, but it is important to move together,” the SCO leaders stated.

Referring to the problem of coronavirus, Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speech stressed the importance of joint plans to counteract the pandemic and overcome its economic consequences. From the words of the Russian leader, it follows that the” eight ” member States of this organization have endured the pandemic better than anyone else in the world and the decline in their economies is not as great as that of many other countries on the planet.

It is worth noting that due to the coronavirus, as well as due to Moscow’s cessation of the bloody massacre in Nagorno-Karabakh – the main news of last Tuesday – the SCO summit went almost unnoticed. However, this does not in any way detract from the decisions that were taken at this summit. All his documents – a Declaration and nine statements – were approved at the suggestion of Vladimir Putin.

Thus, according to the Moscow Declaration, the heads of the SCO member States agreed to take coordinated steps to ensure peace and stability in Eurasia. At the same time, they reaffirmed their continued support for the processes of strengthening equal and indivisible security in the region based on the principles of the rule of international law, non-interference in internal affairs and peaceful settlement of disputes. The document, in particular, notes that “transnational challenges and security threats – including terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking, organized crime and cybercrime-continue to grow, and the interconnectedness between them is increasing.” To combat these threats and challenges, it was decided to coordinate the efforts of all SCO members more closely.

The leaders of the organization also called for further development of contacts with international and regional associations and organizations. The text of the Declaration states that “the Member States will continue to strengthen cooperation within the SCO in order to bring it to a qualitatively new level and turn the SCO space into a region of lasting peace, strong friendship, universal prosperity and complete harmony.” It is also important that the leaders of the SCO member States agreed to strengthen foreign policy coordination in the format of the organization within the UN.

In their Declaration, the SCO member States expressed concern about the unilateral actions of a number of States that undermine the mechanisms of global stability and arms control, including nuclear ones. In addition, the leaders of the organization called for the preservation of outer space free of weapons of any kind and stressed the importance of strict compliance with the current legal regime that provides exclusively for the peaceful use of space.

In response to the threats of chemical and biological terrorism, the leaders of the SCO member States confirmed the need to launch multilateral negotiations on an international Convention for the suppression of acts of chemical and biological terrorism at the conference on disarmament.

In the final Declaration, the participants of the organization, among other things, noted that they support the position on resolving the crisis in Syria through a dialogue of its participants with respect for the principle of territorial integrity of the country.

The summit noted that it is necessary to fight against the politicization of sports. In particular, the SCO leaders stated that athletes and sporting events should not be used for political purposes. The SCO countries also expect that the 2022 winter Olympic and Paralympic games in Beijing “will contribute to strengthening friendship, mutual understanding and harmony between peoples.”

At the end of the summit, the participants also adopted an important statement on the Second world war. It noted, in particular, that in the year of the 75th anniversary of the end of the war, all member States of the organization paid special attention to holding commemorative events related to this anniversary. It is symbolic that in the Victory parade on red square in Moscow, together with Russian military personnel, calculations from the SCO countries marched in a solemn March this year.

In conclusion, the last summit of the Shanghai cooperation organization completed the chairmanship of Russia, which passed the baton for next year to Tajikistan. It is in the capital of this state that the next summit will be held in September 2021. By the way, our country’s chairmanship in the SCO in 2019-2020 was highly appreciated by other members of this organization.