SCO countries prepare to celebrate 75th anniversary of Victory
The Russian Federation assumed the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at Kyrgyzstan on June 14, 2019. According to the journal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, International Affairs, the SCO's plans for 2020, and in particular, plans on organizing the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Victory, were described by the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for affairs Bakhtier Khakimov at SCO press conference.
“I hope that all the leaders of the SCO member states will take part in the events of May 9, which will be held in Moscow. It has also already become known that a declaration is being prepared on the joint celebration of the anniversary of the Victory in all participating countries,” said Khakimov.
He noted that Russia sees the development of bilateral relations, both within the organization and beyond as the main task of the chairmanship in the SCO. “The main priority for us in 2020 is to strengthen the position of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on the world stage. To solve this problem, we, first of all, pay attention to the consolidation of efforts of the SCO member countries on international platforms. Interest in our activities is already shown by many European and Latin American countries, as well as Australia,” said Khakimov.
According to him, since the Russian chairmanship in June 2019, more than 20 different events have already taken place. Including the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, a business dialogue between the SCO member countries and the annual Kunming International Marathon, which has been held since 2016. Last year, more than 20 thousand people took part in it - both professional athletes and amateur athletes from 33 countries: Kazakhstan, India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia, Nepal, Turkey, Australia, Italy, Canada, Kenya, Lesotho, Mexico, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, Philippines, France, Germany, Ethiopia and Japan.
In total, as part of the SCO chairmanship, Russia plans to hold about 90 events: political dialogues, events along the lines of relevant ministries and departments, large round tables and forums.
“We will continue to work in all areas: in the areas of security, economics and humanitarian cooperation. We will definitely carry out a number of activities in the area of youth cooperation,” B. Khakimov emphasized. He also noted that in 2020, within the framework of the SCO, it is planned to carry out the transition to national currencies in mutual settlements. According to the expert, the culmination of the Russian presidency in 2020 will be the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in St. Petersburg, which will be held simultaneously with the BRICS summit in July.
According to Khakimov, at present the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a unique organization, the feature of which is its versatility. The SCO adheres to the principles of mutual trust and equality, strives for the joint development of the participating countries, and an integrated approach allows solving many issues in various fields.
Recall that in 2017, the SCO included India and Pakistan. Then, many experts feared that the expansion of the organization would complicate the decision-making process and weaken its position. However, Khakimov emphasized that the adaptation process was successful.
“The uniqueness of our organization lies in the fact that we do not transfer bilateral disagreements to the SCO platform. Objectively, there are always some inconsistencies and discrepancies, but the principle of consensus allows you to solve any situation. I also want to note that both Indians and Pakistanis are actively working within the organization and bring new ideas,” concluded Bakhtier Hakimov.
The expert also said that the Shanghai organization cannot exist without expansion. “We receive a lot of applications with requests to be accepted to the organization or to become observers. At the moment, natural candidates for expanding membership are Iran, which applied in 2008, and Afghanistan. An application from it was received in 2015. Recently, corresponding signals have also been received from Mongolia,” said the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for SCO Affairs.
