Participation in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of foreign affairs of the SCO

On May 4-5, 2023, in the city of Panaji of the Republic of India, delegation of the Republic of Tajikistan led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Muhriddin took part in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

In accordance with the agenda of the meeting, the foreign ministers held a thorough exchange of views on topical regional and international issues. Particular attention was paid to the preparations for the SCO summit meeting to be held on July 4-5, 2023 in New Delhi.

In his statement, S. Mukhriddin noted that the SCO should continue to effectively fulfill its main mission - the development of cooperation based on the equality of all member states, mutual respect and benefit, as well adherence to consensus.

The minister urged to build up practical cooperation within the framework of the SCO in the economic sphere. In this regard, the need for the speedy completion of the negotiation process to implement the initiative of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan to develop the SCO Economic Development Strategy until 2030 was underlined.

In the context of the regional security and drug trafficly, S. Mukhriddin noted the relative progress in coordinating the proposal of the Tajik side to create a separate permanent body of the SCO - the Anti-Drug Center in Dushanbe, and also stressed the importance of developing an initiative to create a "security belt" around Afghanistan.

The Minister expressed hope that the upcoming full membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the SCO will provides new opportunities for increasing the potential of the Organization.

During the meeting, by the decision of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers, citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Olympic champion of the 2016 and Vice-president of the National Olympic Committee of Tajikistan Mr. Dilshod Nazarov was awarded with a title "Goodwill Ambassador of the SCO".

The meeting adopted 15 decisions as well and the memorandums were signed on granting the Republic of Maldives, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates and the State of Kuwait the status of SCO Dialogue Partner.