Astana will host the 24th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State and Government on 3-4 July. The summit promises important discussions on key regional issues.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was established in Shanghai on 15 June 2001 by the six founding countries: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO currently has nine members in addition to the founding members, including India, Iran and Pakistan. There are three observer states – Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia – and 14 dialogue partners, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The SCO Summit in Samarkand in 2022 began the process of upgrading Belarus’ status within the organisation to that of a member state.
SCO member states represent 40 per cent of the world’s population and contribute more than $23 trillion to global GDP.
Who is attending this year’s summit?
Sixteen heads of state and government are expected to attend the SCO Summit in Astana. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is among the leaders travelling to Astana to attend the summit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Astana on 2 July for a state visit and to attend the summit.
Other leaders are Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajik President Imamali Rahman and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
India will be represented by Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan will also attend the meeting.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who is currently on a visit to Central Asia, will also attend the summit.
“The high number of participants is due to the fact that the summit is a platform for constructive dialogue for all interested countries,” said Alisher Tastenov, senior expert at the Asian Studies Department of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies (KazISS).
Important bilateral meetings between leaders will also take place at the summit.
The most eagerly awaited meeting of the summit is that between Russian leader Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
What is the Summit’s agenda?
The Summit, entitled “Strengthening Multilateral Dialogue – The Quest for Sustainable Peace and Prosperity”, will discuss a comprehensive agenda focusing on key areas of cooperation and development among Member States.
The quest for security and stability is expected to top the agenda.
At least 20 important documents will be discussed at the Summit. These include the SCO Astana Declaration, the SCO Development Strategy until 2035, the SCO Energy Cooperation Development Strategy until 2030, the Programme for Cooperation in Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism for 2025-2027, and the SCO Anti-Drug Strategy for 2024-2029.
One of the documents on the agenda is the World Union for Just Peace and Harmony initiative proposed by Kazakhstan. This initiative aims to strengthen cooperation among SCO countries in promoting global and regional security.
In an interview with China’s Xinhua agency, Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev said he expected the summit’s final decisions to fully embody “the basic principles of the Shanghai Spirit: mutual trust, friendship, mutual benefit and consideration of each other’s interests”.
“We expect strategically important decisions to be taken for the further development of the SCO. In the medium term, the main areas of interaction will be defined and initiatives will be developed to respond adequately and in a timely manner to current challenges and threats,” he said.
Kazakhstan took over the chairmanship from India in July 2023.
Tokayev said that during its chairmanship, Kazakhstan aims to strengthen the international influence of the organisation by expanding its contacts with major international and regional organisations.
