Jordan Daily - President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for stronger cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on security, trade, transport, investment and water, as the organization marks 25 years of development, while experts say its expanding agenda is positioning the SCO as an increasingly important platform in the emerging multipolar international order.
Speaking at the Sept. 1 SCO summit in Bishkek, the Kazakh President described the organization’s evolution from the Shanghai Five into a major international organization spanning much of Eurasia and representing almost half of the world’s population.
“The SCO operates outside the logic of military-political blocs and is not directed against any state. It is based on a completely different political philosophy – the ‘Shanghai Spirit,’ whose foundation is the idea of joint work for the sake of progress,” Tokayev said.
According to Prof. Dr. Zijad Bećirović, director of the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in Ljubljana, the organization’s transformation reflects broader changes in the international system. “The transformation of the organisation reflects the wider transformation of the international system.
The SCO has evolved from a regional security mechanism into a broader platform addressing security, trade, energy, investment, connectivity and economic cooperation,” he told the Astana Times. “Its importance is not simply a matter of size. The organisation brings together major political, economic and demographic centers, making it one of the most significant institutional expressions of the emerging multipolar order,” he added.
Source: The Astana Times
