Uzbekistan advocates multipolarity that expands ‘space for opportunity’: President

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Tuesday said his country advocates for multipolarity that expands the “space for opportunity” rather than creating new dividing lines.

In an address to the expanded meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, Mirziyoyev said connectivity is a matter of “strategic independence and sustainability” for his country and that Uzbekistan is committed to developing open and mutually beneficial cooperation in Eurasia.

“We advocate for a multipolarity that does not create new dividing lines, but rather expands the space of possibilities, where regional projects and initiatives do not compete with each other, but effectively complement each other,” Mirziyoyev said.

In this context, Mirziyoyev proposed focusing on specific areas such as sustainable growth, climate adaptation, and human capital development, stressing the need to increase the sharing of experiences, align approaches, and jointly promote solutions within the UN.

Mirziyoyev said that the SCO Plus format could serve as a platform for creating a “Partnership Network of Regional Organizations,” with the goal of establishing permanent working contacts between secretariats and relevant bodies for the joint implementation of projects in the region.

“At the same time, the potential of regional organizations should be more actively used to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” Mirziyoyev said.

In his remarks, Mirziyoyev also said that the emerging new world order must not only consolidate the global balance of power in the international system but also facilitate the resolution of regional problems.

He stated that the SCO Plus format takes on a particularly profound meaning in this regard by going beyond the scope of a mere extended meeting of the organization.

“This platform is capable of uniting states, regions, and organizations around a common agenda. It is possible and necessary to conduct dialogue here on aligning various initiatives and shaping the architecture of global governance,” he added.

Mirziyoyev also took part in the SCO's Council of Heads of State meeting earlier Tuesday, saying the meeting takes place in an era of "geopolitical division, growing trust deficits, escalating conflicts, and the erosion of international law."

"The development of the situation in the Middle East is of particular concern. We firmly support the resumption of dialogue and de-escalation in the region," Mirziyoyev said.

He also said that maintaining peace and stability in Afghanistan is fundamental to the "security and development of our region," calling for the resumption of regular dialogue between the SCO and Afghanistan to discuss a wide range of security and economic cooperation issues.