SCO Leaders Emphasize Strengthening Multilateralism and Economic Development
Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including Masoud Pezeshkian, called for strengthening the position of this institution and expanding economic cooperation.
At the twenty-fifth summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held in Tianjin, China, the participating leaders, while reiterating the necessity of multipolarity in the international system, emphasized the need to strengthen this organization’s role in shaping a multilateral international system and developing economic cooperation.
Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Iran, in his speech described this organization as one of the main foundations for multipolarizing the global system and said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as one of the important pillars of multipolarizing the international system, should take clear and transparent operational steps along two parallel paths to create a more peaceful world and also a world more conducive to the expansion of economic cooperation.”
He also proposed strengthening the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Special Accounts and Settlement” initiative to reduce sanctions pressure and increase economic resilience among members, explaining: “This initiative is based on three main pillars: expanding settlement in national currencies and reducing dependence on the dollar in member exchanges, launching shared digital infrastructures and using central bank digital currencies for secure and fast payments, and establishing a multilateral currency swap fund to support countries facing sanctions pressure or liquidity crises.”
Subsequently, Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, referring to the growing position of this institution, said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is playing a serious role as a driver in global development processes and the establishment of genuine multilateralism. He also appreciated China and India’s efforts to help resolve the Ukraine crisis and called his recent meeting with Donald Trump a step toward peace in Ukraine.
Putin announced that in his bilateral meetings, he will inform other leaders about the results of the Alaska meeting and recalled that he had also discussed this matter with Xi Jinping, President of China.
Xi Jinping, at the opening ceremony of this summit, stated the purpose of holding the meeting as “building consensus, expanding cooperation, and charting a development roadmap” and added: “The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has become an important force in promoting a new type of international relations.” He emphasized that this summit is being held at a sensitive moment for global stability and that the leaders present bear an important responsibility in reducing differences and designing development solutions.
