The Ambassador of Uzbekistan to India Dilshod Akhatov speaks with the Financial Express on the eve of the virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as India’s Chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is coming to an end.
How significant is the SCO summit and what does it mean to regional peace and stability?
This is of historical significance for both India and the SCO. Because for the first time, India has led this dynamically developing international structure, thereby starting a cycle of chairmanship with the participation of its new member states within the framework of the SCO.
For Uzbekistan, this is also significant in that Delhi took over the Chairmanship from Tashkent. During the Presidency of our country last year, more than 80 major international events were successfully held at various levels.
Despite the fact that this was the first Presidency of the SCO for India, the country has organized over 100 important events covering all facets of cooperation that are on the Organization’s agenda.
I would like to remind you that accepting the responsible mission of Chairmanship in the SCO, Uzbekistan has relied on the strategy of advancing the development of the Organization by opening up new horizons for cooperation and launching usage of untapped reserves that each of its members has.
At the platforms of all the events held during the Chairmanship, a comprehensive agenda was formed for the SCO – starting from the issues of further expanding cooperation in security, strengthening transport and economic connectivity and positioning the Organization in the international arena up to the search for new ways and points for development.
Uzbekistan held the last presidency of the SCO. Could you share some of the initiatives and action plans taken during the Samarkand summit?
The completion of our Chairmanship with the Samarkand summit also had a logical explanation. As the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized, historically Samarkand has been a melting pot of ideas and knowledge, that was “cooking” a common goal of living better, being more successful and becoming happier.
And everybody has known that friendly neighbours are half of your wealth, you yourself are a blessing to them, because you know that cooperation, trade, oeuvre, science, art and the best ideas do good, enrich and bring nations together.
It is noteworthy that the world looked upon from Samarkand has been seen as single and indivisible, rather than fragmented. This is indeed the essence of the unique phenomenon of the “Samarkand spirit”, on the basis of which Uzbekistan proposed to serve as the basis for a fundamentally new format of international interaction, including within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Overall, in the 22nd Summit of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on September 2022 in Samarkand, the Heads of State approved a lot of various decisions and agreements. The decisions concern the Comprehensive Action Plan for 2023-2027 for implementation of provisions of the Treaty on Long-term Good Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, to develop Interconnectivity and Greater Efficient Transport Corridors.
India, during its Presidency, also pays special attention to promoting partnerships in various fields, building trust and cooperation among the members of the Organization.
International events under the Indian Chairmanship, in their essence and content, covered all key areas of relations between the countries of the region: economy, tourism, education, science, medicine, culture, etc.
I remember well such events as the SCO Film Festival, SCO Cultural Showcase at the Surajkund Mela, the International Fusion Music Festival, conferences of young scientists, specialists in traditional medicine, discussion of start-up projects and much more.
What is your take on the SCO Summit 2023 which is taking place virtually?
Tashkent supports India’s initiatives put forward during these events. It is also very important for us that the SCO is a key platform for India’s interaction with Central Asia. In the prospects for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation, interconnectedness plays a special role.
As you know, connectivity has emerged as a crucial factor in promoting economic integration and fostering regional cooperation. The SCO, comprising eight Member States, recognizes the significance of connectivity in achieving its goals of regional stability, economic development, and people-to-people exchanges.
The importance of strengthening both regional and inter-regional connectivity within the SCO framework is on top of the agenda. We must examine the current state of connectivity in the region and identifies challenges, and connectivity, including infrastructure development, digital connectivity and policy coordination.
I would like to recall that at the last SCO summit in Samarkand, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the SCO member countries to provide transit access to each other and spoke in favour of expanding cooperation to ensure the sustainability of supply chains for the region.
In this sense, the importance of efforts to use the port of Chabahar in Iran, a country that is also becoming a full member of the Organization, is multiplied.
How do you evaluate the key projects in the pipeline especially the North-South International Corridor (NSIC)?
As noted by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his speech at the “Voice of Global South” Summit in January 2023, our country fully supports the development of the “North-South” international corridor, which is one of the leading transport arteries in the Eurasian region and also promoted by India.
In general, the ongoing Indian Presidency of the SCO has shown that the Organization is transforming into cultural-humanitarian and transport-economic cooperation. This approach undoubtedly serves to bring the SCO Member States closer together, reinforce mutual trust and respect with partner countries, ease tensions and build good neighbourly relations between countries with which they have clashes of interest.
This approach will remain on the foreign policy agenda of the SCO Member States in the near future. Now the National Coordinators and other responsible structures are carrying out the last preparatory work for the SCO virtual summit, which will be a major event and will sum up India’s successful Presidency in the Organization.