Secretary General highlights SCO's growing influence across continents Amid global tensions

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has solidified its position as a major Eurasian hub, attracting growing interest from countries across the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and North Africa, SCO Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev said.

Yermekbayev highlighted how global crises have driven nations to collaborate more within the SCO framework as he was interviewed by Russian media, Caliber.Az reports.

“The SCO has become one of the centres of attraction of Eurasia, including for the countries of the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia and even North Africa. The crisis phenomena observed in the world have only stimulated the partners' interest in working together within the SCO in one capacity or another,” he stated.

The SCO, founded in 2001, has emerged as a significant player on the global stage, with its vast geographic and demographic reach. Yermekbayev emphasized the growing importance of the organisation, noting that the SCO now covers approximately a quarter of the globe’s landmass.

Additionally, the "SCO community" encompasses almost half of the world's population, accounting for 43.17 per cent. The combined GDP of SCO member states also represents over 28 per cent of the global economic output.

The secretary general emphasized the "attractive power of the principles of the Shanghai spirit," which include mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity, and a shared commitment to joint development. He highlighted that the SCO member states operate outside a confrontational framework, where no nation imposes foreign standards or models on others. This approach, he noted, is deeply rooted in the respect for each country’s cultural and civilizational traditions, ensuring that the cooperation within the SCO remains inclusive and free from external pressures.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation currently comprises 10 member states: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Additionally, the organization includes 2 observer states—Afghanistan and Mongolia—and 14 dialogue partners, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, and the UAE.

Following the Astana summit in July, China assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO for the 2024-2025 term. The country is set to host the SCO summit in 2025.

By Vafa Guliyeva