MOSCOW (TASS): Russia proposes to hold inter-ministerial consultations of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on the decarbonization of the economy as a first joint step in this direction. Bakhtiyor Khakimov, special envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for SCO affairs, ambassador-at-large of the Foreign Ministry, said this at an online briefing on Friday.
“Yesterday in the field of decarbonization – yesterday the Prime Minister [Mikhail Mishustin] voiced this initiative – we proposed to hold as a first step targeted consultations between MFA with an eye to raising this topic on a global scale. – he said.
According to Khakimov, the topic of energy security has been on the SCO agenda for a long time, but the mechanism of interaction, which is constantly working, has not been formed. And this year, the diplomat continued, on the initiative of Tajikistan during his chairmanship in the organization, the first meeting of energy ministers was held, where a decision was made to create a cooperation mechanism. “The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation supported this proposal, took an active part in the event, and this topic, naturally, will be the agenda of these meetings,” he recalled.
“Obviously, appropriate working groups will be created, which will build some kind of contacts already directly, both between state structures and with the assistance of state structures, in particular business structures. Moreover, this topic is relevant for everyone, because we had a certain experience in this area, but frankly, it made it possible to communicate, but did not lead to concrete results, “he said.
In this regard, Khakimov recalled the SCO energy club, created at the initiative of Russia. “The Energy Club worked, interested states, representatives, observers and even partners in the dialogue, including Turkey, Belarus, Iran, and so on took part. Regular meetings were held, some prospects for interaction were discussed, but the issue did not move further. By creating a specialized mechanism, we hope that we will be able to make a certain breakthrough, “the diplomat emphasized.
He added that the SCO stands for the earliest possible stabilization of the internal situation in Afghanistan and the development of interaction with the republic within the framework of the organization.
“The SCO confirms its principled position in favor of Afghanistan becoming peaceful as soon as possible, this is a neighboring state, we are in favor of developing relations within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but the main point is the fulfillment by the current authorities in Kabul of those obligations that they took it so that the question of [their] legitimation and official recognition would move into a practical plane,” he said.
In this regard, the special envoy focused on the need to resume the work of the appropriate format of interaction with Afghanistan.
“We are in favor of resuming the work of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group as soon as possible and starting to implement the plans that were outlined,” he stressed. Khakimov recalled that the organization has consistently advocated an inclusive government in the republic, so that the government “is strong and reflects the interests of all political, ethnic and religious groups.”
The conditions for the development and promotion of in-depth interaction between the SCO and the CSTO exist, Khakimov said.
“First of all, the interaction between the SCO and the CSTO is, of course, in demand. Moreover, it has been developing for a long time. It began with the signing of a memorandum between the SCO secretariat and the CSTO, meetings of the leaders of the two structures are also regularly held. So the conditions for contacts to develop , there is, “he said.
In this regard, the special representative noted that an important and major step in the development of bilateral cooperation is the holding of a joint meeting of the heads of the SCO and CSTO member states in Dushanbe. “This was the first time such an outreach event was held. The topic was clear – Afghanistan. But nevertheless, the leaders gathered. Moreover, this became possible not only because the situation required, but also thanks to the efforts that were undertaken through the secretariats of the two organizations. and the relevant ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense,” he continued.
Khakimov also recalled that on the initiative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in Sep-tember 2020, during the chairmanship of the Rus-sian Federation, a meeting of the defense ministers of the SCO member states, the CIS member states and the CIS member states was held.
At the same time, the special representative stressed that at the moment the signing of a major agreement between the parties is unlikely. “Today, we could hardly talk about concluding a full-scale agreement, but we could talk about promoting deeper interaction and contacts,” he added.
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