The Embassy of Kazakhstan, in collaboration with the SCO Research Center – Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies, and Rifah Institute of Public Policy, organized a round table, “Post-Astana SCO Summit 2024: achievements and way forward.”
The main speakers of the event were the President of the Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies, Farhat Asif, Professor of the Department of Politics and International Relations of the International Islamic University, Muhammad Khan, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Muslim Youth University, Muhammad Munir, and Director, Rifah Institute of Public Policy, Rashid Aftab. Senator Shakur Khan Achakzai attended the event as the Guest of Honor.
The round table was also attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, expert and scientific-academic circles, leading analysts in the field of international relations and world politics, as well as students.
The participants of the event discussed the results of the SCO Summit and the first organized expanded format “SCO+” with the participation of international organizations and partner countries that took place on July 3-4 of this year, in Astana.
In his speech, the Kazakh Ambassador Yerzhan Kistafin spoke about the main achievements of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship and documents approved by the Heads of State. The Ambassador mentioned the Astana summit as an important milestone in the strengthening of cooperation between the SCO member countries, and creating new opportunities for more successful interaction.
Yerzhan Kistafin talked about the article “Middle Powers have the power to safe multilateralism” published by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in EuroNews (dated May 28, 2024), outlining the main points of the article, while linking them with the practical implementation of the Kazakhstan agenda in the SCO.
Farhat Asif spoke about the importance of SCO’s role and Pakistan’s path in this organization. She emphasized that 40% of the world’s population is included in SCO member states, and the total trade turnover is 23 trillion US dollars. In her speech, Farhat Asif also noted the active role of Kazakhstan as chairman of the SCO. During Kazakhstan’s chairmanship, over 100 events were held aimed at improving the work of the organization and strengthening interaction between member countries.
The speakers of the round table highlighted several dimensions as key areas, namely, security, regional interconnectedness, trade, ecology, cyber security and the cultural and humanitarian. In this context, the agenda of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the SCO was highly assessed, which fully responded to current pressing issues, challenges and problems in the organization’s space. The role of Kazakhstan as a link between regional and global players was especially emphasized. According to experts, Astana has finally established itself as an international center of diplomacy.