UZBEKISTAN AND THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION: THE EMPHASIS ON THE CONNECTIVITY

Аннотация

INTRODUCTION there is China, which is the driving force of In light of the high geopolitical dynamics in the international trade, in the South - India, turning world and around Central Asia in particular, issues into a new economic giant, in the North - Russia of transport connectivity, especially the creation of with the world's largest reserves of natural new international transport corridors, are resources, in the Middle East - Iran, which, given its becoming key task of the foreign policy strategy of rich oil and gas reserves, plays a strategically the states of the region. This fact determines the important role, and the center of this large territory strategic importance of connectivity diplomacy in is the Central Asian region with Uzbekistan in its the foreign policy of Uzbekistan. very heart. Based on this, both in the context of bilateral However, the vast space of the SCO with a territory political and economic contacts with its partners, of 35 million km² is weakly connected from the and within the framework of multilateral inside. This applies, first of all, to Central Asia, cooperation, i.e. with regional and international where each country depends on its markets and the organizations, Tashkent attaches great importance transit of its goods going to world markets (R. to promoting its interests in strengthening Alimov, 2022). At the same time, the states of transport connectivity. The SCO is one of the most Central Asia are among the least “connected” important multilateral platforms for the economies in the world. The region's connectivity implementation of the main goals and objectives of indicator averages less than 60 percent of its Uzbekistan’s connectivity and transport transport access ratio to global GDP, the lowest on diplomacy. this scale. The cost of importing and exporting SCO’s connectivity potential. The very geography goods in Central Asia remains high, undermining of the SCO determines the need for extensive their competitiveness abroad and increasing the development of transport communications. If one cost of imported goods for local consumers. For looks at the map of the “SCO space”, in the East https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc 31 THE USA JOURNALS THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY (ISSN- 2693-0803) VOLUME 06 ISSUE06 example, the cost of shipping a container to the shortest way for a Central Asian country to Shanghai from any Central Asian country is more enter world markets. than five times higher than the cost of transporting Since then, the Uzbek leader at all SCO summits and it from Poland or Turkey . other international forums has been emphasizing In terms of transport and communications, Central this project as one of the most relevant and Asia is practically isolated from South Asia, where promising transport corridors for the entire region. India and Pakistan are located. This remains a This consistent line began to produce results. Thus, major obstacle to expanding trade ties between on the eve of the Samarkand SCO summit, on Uzbekistan and other countries in the region with September 14, 2022, the Ministry of Transport of South Asian partners. For example, the share of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Central Asian countries in India's foreign trade Transport and Communications of the Kyrgyz remains very low - only 1.1% . Republic, and the State Committee for Development and Reform of the People's Republic Geography as a precondition for Uzbekistan to of China signed a tripartite memorandum on the conduct proactive connectivity diplomacy. In project for the construction of the “Uzbekistan- the new geopolitical and geo-economic conditions, Kyrgyzstan-China” railway . A logical continuation the demand for Central Asia as a transit hub is was the signing on June 6, 2024 in Beijing of a growing. The benefits of the region's transit tripartite intergovernmental agreement on the position on the route of goods, services and implementation of this project. The agreement passengers are obvious. About 3 billion people live establishes the basic principles and mechanisms in countries directly bordering Central Asia or for cooperation between the three countries, geographically adjacent to them. (Kamynin, including financing, construction, operation and Lazareva, Lapenko, Lyamzin, 2017). maintenance of the railway . As a state that needs to cross the territory of at least This project, as a part of Chinese Belt and Road two countries to access international sea trade Initiative, has a number of advantages: it is the ports, strengthening transport connectivity in the shortest route from China to Europe and the Middle SCO space is a vital task: 98% of the country's total East. The launch of the railway will reduce the cargo traffic is carried out by SCO countries . This distance by 900 km and the delivery time by 7-8 objective necessity determines the extreme days compared to existing routes. For Uzbekistan, relevance and