Kazakh President Tokayev: SCO Operates Outside Military-Political Blocs

ASTANA, September 1. /TASS/. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has said the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) operates outside the framework of military-political blocs and is not directed against any country.

"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,’ which is rooted in the idea of working together for progress. Our main goal is to build a strong and prosperous SCO community," Tokayev said at a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State in Bishkek. His remarks were quoted by the press service of the Kazakh president.

Tokayev said the SCO brings together countries with fundamentally different characteristics but a shared commitment to the principles of non-interference, respect for sovereignty, mutual trust, openness and cooperation.

At the same time, he noted that the international environment in which the organization was established had changed significantly.

"We have witnessed the formation of a new architecture of international relations. Consolidation is giving way to fragmentation, the desire for cooperation is giving way to geopolitical rivalry, and the search for a balance of interests is deepening fault lines. The level of mutual trust is declining, without which even the most sophisticated international institutions gradually lose the ability to effectively respond to emerging challenges," the Kazakh president said.