“Mutual Trust Is Declining,” Tokayev Tells SCO Leaders

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used his address to Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders to warn that international cooperation is giving way to rivalry and fragmentation.

“Mutual trust is declining,” Tokayev said, arguing that even advanced international institutions gradually lose their ability to respond effectively when trust erodes. He said the world that existed when the SCO was created had changed significantly and that a new architecture of international relations was taking shape.

Tokayev presented the SCO as a broad organization that has grown from the Shanghai Five into a major Eurasian institution representing nearly half of humanity. Its members differ in many respects, he said, but share principles including non-interference, respect for sovereignty, openness and cooperation.

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Mutual trust is declining, and without it even the most advanced international institutions gradually lose their ability to respond effectively to emerging challenges.

He also stressed that the SCO operates outside the logic of military and political blocs and is not directed against any state. Instead, he described its approach as the “Shanghai Spirit,” centered on working together for progress. “Our main goal is to build a strong and prosperous SCO community,” he said.

Tokayev thanked Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and the Kyrgyz people for their hospitality and organization of the event. He also congratulated Japarov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the 35th anniversaries of Kyrgyzstan’s and Uzbekistan’s independence. Tokayev attended the 26th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State and the SCO Plus meeting at the Yrys Ordo Congress Hall in Bishkek.

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Our main goal is to build a strong and prosperous SCO community.