SAMARKAND, November 7. /Dunyo IA/.  On November 5–6^th, First International Meeting in the “SCO Plus Dialogue on Security” format was held in Samarkand, reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

Over the past ten years, the policy of openness pursued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has contributed to strengthening the role and authority of Uzbekistan on the international arena, expanding the country's participation in addressing issues of regional and global scale.

Confirmation of this is the implementation of the initiative to organize the expert “SCO Plus Dialogue on Security”, put forward by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the SCO Summit in the city of Astana in 2024.

This event demonstrated Uzbekistan's proactiveness in developing constructive dialogue on international security issues, uniting the efforts of various states and international structures, as well as forming coordinated approaches and practical actions toward common threats.

At the beginning of the event, Address of the President of Uzbekistan to the participants was read out. As was noted, Uzbekistan, as a co-founding state of the SCO, attaches special importance to further strengthening its role and expanding its activities as a unique multilateral platform uniting member states to preserve stability and inclusive development.

International event, chaired by the Head of the State Security Service of Uzbekistan, Colonel General Bakhodir Kurbanov, was attended by heads and representatives of the special services of SCO member states, observer countries, dialogue partners, as well as delegations of international organizations.

Participation of 33 delegations from 24 states and representatives of 5 international organizations confirms the high authority of the dialogue platform and the growing interest in this international format.

At the conference, main theme of which was “Security in the Era of Digital Transformation: Countering Terrorism and Extremism in Light of the Development of New Technologies”, impact of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence capabilities on international and regional security, emerging threats and risks, as well as issues of utilizing innovative approaches in the fight against terrorism and extremism, were comprehensively discussed.

As noted in the address of the President of our country, the rapid development of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and global communication means, on the one hand, opens up broad opportunities for progress, while on the other, creates fundamentally new vulnerabilities. It is no exaggeration to say that cyberspace has today become one of the key arenas of confrontation and struggle.

During the dialogue, special attention was paid to the need to unite the efforts of states in countering such threats and challenges, as well as establishing coordinated international cooperation in this sphere.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached on further strengthening interaction in the fight against international terrorism and extremism, as well as increasing the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms.

Thus, Samarkand meeting once again demonstrated Uzbekistan's practical contribution to ensuring global and regional security.