Tajikistan calls for SCO support for international water initiatives

Photo: Press Service of the President of Tajikistan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on October 20 called on Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states to support Tajikistan’s international initiatives on water and climate.

Emomali Rahmon made the remarks at a meeting with heads of delegations from SCO member states who arrived in the Tajik capital for the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, the president’s press service said.

He also touched on adaptation to climate change, environmental protection, glacier conservation, and the rational use of water resources.

The president said Tajikistan consistently advocates the peaceful resolution of conflicts and a stronger central coordinating role for the United Nations.

In this context, he pointed to Tajikistan’s initiative, backed by the UN General Assembly, to proclaim an International Decade for Peace for the Sake of Future Generations for 2027-2036.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded in 2001 and grew out of the Shanghai Five, a format created in 1996 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan joined at the founding, and the group has since expanded to include India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus. Cooperation within the organization covers security, trade, investment, transport, energy, and humanitarian ties.

The Council of Heads of Government, one of its main bodies, focuses on economic and humanitarian cooperation and supports the implementation of decisions adopted by the organization’s leaders. Tajikistan, a mountainous Central Asian country whose glaciers feed major regional rivers, has been among the organization’s members since its founding. The SCO Secretariat is based in Beijing.