MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is firmly committed to building an equitable, multipolar world order grounded in international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the SCO’s virtual online summit, Putin made clear the great importance for Russia "that all participants of the organization share the same assessment of the situation in global politics and security, and in the social and economic spheres."

"Our organization is firmly committed to the formation of a truly equitable, multipolar world order. A world order that is based on international law, on the universally accepted principles of the mutually respectful cooperation of sovereign states under the central coordinating role of the United Nations," Putin said.

The Russian president noted that the practical work of the SCO is being built on a constructive basis, with the organization playing an increasingly significant role in international affairs and contributing to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring the provision of the sustainable economic growth of its member states, and making international ties stronger.

New Delhi is presiding over the SCO this year as the group’s incumbent one-year chair. The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. As of today, the organization encompasses eight member countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as founding states, as well as India and Pakistan, which joined the organization in 2017.

India-chaired online summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State is being attended by all the SCO member states and the heads of the organization’s Secretariat and Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. In addition, the heads of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the United Nations Organization (UN), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have been invited to the summit.