SCO member countries call for unity, friendship

Officials from the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization called on countries to strengthen people-to-people friendship and bolster unity and mutual trust to build a closer community with a shared future for the SCO.

They made the remarks on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the second SCO non-governmental friendship forum held by Uzbekistan, currently the rotating chair of the SCO. The first was held in China in 2021.

Tanzila Kamalovna Narbaeva, chairperson of the Senate of Uzbekistan, said the forum came at the right time.

Noting common challenges such as climate change and development in the post-pandemic era, she urged countries to take concerted and effective measures to address those problems.

She said she believed non-governmental friendship is an effective tool for countries to enhance mutual understanding and trust and find a solution to problems facing mankind.

Member states of the SCO should consolidate traditional friendship to jointly safeguard peace and security in the region, said Shen Yueyue, vice-chairperson of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

Shen, also president of the Good-Neighborly Friendship and Cooperation Committee of SCO, noted countries should make good use of non-governmental channels to promote people-to-people bonds.

Efforts should be made to take advantages of civil society and facilitate collaborative development by promoting the integration of the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of various countries, Shen added.

Vladimir Imamovich Norov, acting foreign minister of Uzbekistan, said in addition to the forum held on Wednesday the country would hold multiple events including a youth council meeting to promote dialogue among different civilizations.

As there are 800 million youth in the SCO which almost accounts for half the global youth population, Norov suggested countries of the SCO unleash the great power of youth groups to further promote non-governmental friendship among SCO countries.

Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the SCO, hailed people-to-people friendship as an important foundation and an inexhaustible driving force for state-to-state relations, which should be given full play to eliminate the peace deficit.

The more turbulent situation, the more people-to-people diplomacy plays a role as a stabilizer of relations among countries, as a friendship planter and a cultural propagator, Zhang said.

He called on countries to uphold the "Shanghai Spirit" and tackle the COVID-19 challenge to jointly advance people-to-people ties among SCO member states.

Cultural exchanges should be given priority to increase the interests of peoples in closer relations among countries of the SCO, Zhang said.

He added media platforms should be fully leveraged to display achievements of SCO cooperation to people of all countries so as to jointly create a public opinion environment conducive to the development of ties among countries in the region.

Andrey Yuryevich Belyaninov, Russian secretary-general of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, said the forum showed the huge potential of the SCO and the significant value of people-to-people diplomacy.

Every step made to enhance people-to-people exchanges is of great importance, for we want to live in a peaceful and harmonious environment, he added.