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By founding the Shanghai Organization for Cooperation with the four interconnected predominantly Muslim states of Central Asia with which they share a common border, China and Russia showed geopolitical foresight back in the mid-1990s. Preventing the spillover of crises caused by Islamic fundamentalism on the Caucasus and the Caspian region, that is, on China's western border and the Uyghur province of Xinjiang, Russia and China simultaneously provided the prerequisites for the realization of the strategic goals of energy exploitation and distribution through a solid alliance and integration with the countries of the organization. By fighting for energy sources and oil and gas transport corridors, as well as privileged investments in the still weak planned economies of autocratic Central Asian regimes, China and Russia tied Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan more to themselves and to the Shanghai Organization. The common firm position in solving the Syrian and Iranian issues, the balanced position towards the war in Ukraine, joint military exercises and activities as a preparation for a possible response to the possible escalation of the crisis after the withdrawal of the allied forces from Afghanistan, the admission to full membership of India and Pakistan in 2017, Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024, as well as the announcement of the admission of many important partner states are confirmation that the SCO is playing a key role in the region and going to become an indispensable geopolitical player through whom the international relations of great powers with aspirations to the Asian region, especially its central part, will be conducted.