The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) annual summit ended in Tashkent on Friday, with the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan agreeing to further enhance regional stability and seek common development.
Against the backdrop of complicated regional and international situations, it is both a necessity and the collective wish of these countries and their peoples to safeguard regional stability, and cooperatively promote social and economic advancement of the entire region.
The Tashkent declaration, issued at the end of the six-member summit, stressed the importance of constructive dialogues and cooperation among SCO member states, with a particular emphasis on countering new threats and challenges that have emerged in the security sector.
These threats include the “three evil forces” of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and the crackdown on drug trafficking, weapon smuggling and crossborder crimes.
The consensus reached between the leaders: that only the utter extermination of the “three forces” can guarantee an everlasting security of the region, has thus mapped out the direction for further deepening of counterterrorist cooperation among these countries within SCO's framework.
The Tashkent declaration, meanwhile, demonstrated member states' collective willingness to continue to minimise the impact of the global financial crisis and to promote economic development.
Building on the vital agreements reached at the 2009 Yekaterinburg summit, SCO member states over the past year have dedicated themselves to advancing regional and bilateral economic cooperation and boosting common prosperity through a series of anti—crisis measures and large loans.
In 2009, despite the severe after-effects of the global financial crisis, bilateral trade volume between China and Uzbekistan nonetheless managed to surge 18.9 per cent to reach $1.91 billion. Although two-way trade between China and Russia, and between China and Kazakhstan inevitably slid last year, both trade figures have returned to rapid growth since the start of this year. Major China-Russia and China-Kazakh cooperative projects are also underway.
All these are strong evidence that deepening pragmatic cooperation within the SCO plays an important role in helping the member countries survive the crisis and realize social and economic development.
With the SCO is to mark its 10th anniversary next year, cooperation between the member states in the fields of politics, the economy, security and culture will accordingly be raised to a whole new level. Additionally, with the increasing clout of the bloc in the region, the SCO is expected to play a bigger role in maintaining regional security and prosperity.
Precisely as the Tashkent declaration has stated, the SCO “will continue to uphold the principle of peace, common development, equal cooperation, mutual respect and the idea of inclusion, to expand dialogue and cooperation with the international community, and to make unremitting efforts in strengthening global and regional security and stability, as well as realizing harmony and prosperity“.
Therefore, it is totally reasonable to believe that, at this historic juncture, SCO member states will create and embrace a bright future with combined force in adherence to “the Shanghai Spirit.” — Xinhua
