SCO leaders pledge to enhance anti-terrorism efforts
Dushanbe, Aug 28 (Xinhua) Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member
states Thursday pledged to strengthen the organisation's regional anti-terrorist structure
and raise thier cooperation in the field of security to a new height.
The leaders of SCO member states, who kicked off their summit in Tajik capital Dushanbe
Thursday, expressed their satisfaction with the increased cooperation among themselves in
their fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
In a joint declaration issued at the end of their summit, the SCO leaders also
reiterated their efforts to maintain the central coordinating role of the UN in the global
fight against terrorism.
They expressed their willingness to implement steadfastly the UN Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy and to finalize a comprehensive convention on fighting global
terrorism at an early date.
"External threats and challenges to security have become the factors destabilising the
situation in the region," said the leaders of SCO, which was set up in 2001 by the leaders
of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to counter NATO
influence in the strategic Central Asia region.
The latest developments in Afghanistan, the expanding drug trafficking and rampant
transnational organised crime have made it imperative to strengthen cooperation, they
noted.
The leaders also pledged to establish a mechanism of joint assessment, prevention and
response to these threats and challenges.
They said efforts within the SCO framework in creating an international legal framework
for ensuring international information security cooperation have proved to be fruitful,
and so has been the work aimed at setting up practical cooperative mechanism.
The leaders also reiterated that it was imperative to respect the history and cultural
tradition of every country and ethnic group.
It is also imperative to respect the efforts to safeguard national unity and
territorial integrity of a nation, the leaders said.
On the issue related to the creation of a global anti-missile defence system, they
stressed that the establishment of such a system will not help in maintaining a strategic
balance, as it is against the international efforts towards arms control and nuclear
non-proliferation, and not conducive to enhancing trust among countries and regional
stability.
The declaration was signed by Chinese President Hu Jintao, his Russian counterpart
Dmitry Medvedev, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek
Bakiyev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov.
--IANS
