Doha: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established 23 years ago as a multi-party alliance to ensure security and stability across vast expanses of Europe and Asia, and unite efforts to confront emerging challenges and threats, enhance trade, and foster cultural and humanitarian cooperation. HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is participating in the current SCO summit being held in Astana, with participation from a number of Their Excellencies leaders of member states, and heads of governments and regional and international organizations as well as guests of the summit. Qatar joined the SCO as a dialogue partner after signing a MoU on Sep. 14, 2022, during the SCO summit in Uzbekistan. The Cabinet agreed to take the necessary measures to ratify the MoU during its regular meeting held on Mar. 1, 2023. The Organization aims to equally benefit all parties, prevent confrontation and conflict, and uphold security as an equal and complete right. It diligently strives to extinguish conflict s among civilizations in all its regions, specifically focusing on adhering to principles of openness. The SCO does not intend to form alliances or direct its activates against any sovereign entity. It actively commits to dialogue, exchange, and cooperation while strictly adhering to the purposes and principles outlined in the United Nations Charter, such as equality, sovereignty of states, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for territorial integrity, non-aggression, peaceful settlement of disputes, and refraining from the use or threat of force, alongside other globally recognized rules of international law aimed at preserving peace and security, establishing partnerships between states, protecting national sovereignty, and respecting the right to self-determination. Moving forward, it aims to achieve political, social, economic, and cultural development through voluntary cooperation and fair distribution of responsibilities, thereby facilitating multi-party partnerships to help member states coo rdinate strategies and methods to address urgent international issues and meet regional needs. The structure of the SCO was designed to form multi-party partnerships to assist member states in coordinating strategies and methods to address urgent international issues and meet regional needs. The Summit held in Kazakhstan in June 2017 marked a new phase in the Organization's development. Key outcomes included granting full membership to both India and Pakistan, enabling these influential South Asian countries to enhance SCO's capabilities and expand its opportunities, particularly in combating existing and emerging challenges and threats. The vast region encompassing SCO member states stretches from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean, and from Lianyungang in China to Kaliningrad in the Russian Federation, hosting approximately half of the world's population. The Organization's primary mission focuses on maintaining stability and effectively addressing security threats across member state territories, as well as assuming responsibility as the largest regional organization on earth. In addition to agreements among SCO member states concerning major regional and global agenda items, the Astana Declaration issued by the SCO Summit Presidents outlines further steps the organization will take to address threats to international peace and security. In adherence to the universally-recognized rules of international law, as well as the relentless pursuit of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has a firm belief that this law is an unparalleled diplomatic means of resolving disputes. Several initiatives launched under the auspices of the United Nations and the SCO have significantly bolstered international cooperation in combating shared challenges and threats to security. Notably, events such as 'The United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Jointly Countering Challenges and Threats,' held in November 2016 in New York, and 'United Nations and Shang hai Cooperation Organization in the fight against drugs: common threats and joint actions,' held in cooperation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in March 2017 in Vienna, exemplify these efforts. (MORE) Source: Qatar News Agency