On the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO member States

Tashkent, July 29, 2022 – The Kazakh delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi took part in the regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member States under the chairmanship of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The heads of the SCO foreign ministries discussed the current state and prospects for the development of cooperation in various areas of the Organization's activities, increasing its role and place in international and regional affairs in preparation for the Summit of the Heads of the SCO member states to be held in Samarkand in September this year.

The sides stressed that the SCO, relying on the "Shanghai spirit" embodying mutual trust and benefit, equality, mutual consultations, respect for the diversity of cultures and the desire for joint development, has established itself as one of the influential participants in the modern system of international relations for 21 years since its establishment.

In his speech, the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan noted that Kazakhstan intends to continue active work with all states of the Organization on comprehensive interaction in all areas of cooperation. "Over the past years of our work, we have consistently conducted joint activities aimed at achieving the main goals and objectives of the organization. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is entering its third decade against the backdrop of very complex global processes. Against this background, it is gratifying to note that the SCO remains a space of stability and development," M. Tleuberdi said.

The Foreign Ministers of India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reviewed and adopted as a basis the draft political document of the Samarkand Declaration, as well as signed a number of other decisions on the current activities of the Organization.

The foreign Ministers of the SCO countries decided to submit to the Council of Heads of State the issue of signing a memorandum of obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to obtain the status of a SCO member state.

The Ministers welcomed the signing of memoranda on granting SCO dialogue partner status with the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar.

The heads of the SCO delegations were received by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. During the conversation, topical issues on the situation in the region and cooperation within the SCO, as well as the preparations for the upcoming summit of the organization were touched upon.

On the sidelines of the event, Kazakh Foreign Minister M. Tleuberdi held separate bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of China Wang Yi, India Subramanian Jaishankar, Pakistan Bilawal Zardari. Negotiations were also held with SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming.

The parties discussed the state and prospects of bilateral cooperation and interaction within multilateral structures. Special attention was paid to topical issues on the international agenda.