Comunique

JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ OF MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE HEADS OF

THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION

A regular meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO CHS) took place on 15 and 16 June 2009 in Yekaterinburg. President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A.Nazarbaev, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao, President of the Kyrgyz Republic K.S.Bakiev, President of the Russian Federation D.A.Medvedev, President of the Republic of Tajikistan E.Rakhmon, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan I.A.Karimov were in attendance.

President of the Russian Federation D.A.Medvedev chaired the meeting.

Secretary-General of the SCO B.K.Nurgaliev and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure (RCTS) M.U.Subanov participated in the meeting.

Heads of delegations from the SCO observer states – Prime Minister of the Republic of India M.Singh, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran M.Ahmadinejad, First Vice Premier of the Government of Mongolia N.Altankhuyag, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan A.Zardari, as well as guests of the host state – President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan H.Karzai, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs L.Pascoe were in attendance and delivered statements. Chairman of the Executive Committee – Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States S.N.Lebedev, Secretary-General of the Eurasian Economic Community T.A.Mansurov, Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation N.N.Bordyuzha were also in attendance.

For the first time the format of the summit, besides a restricted-attendance meeting of the heads of the SCO member states and a plenary session with the participation of the heads of all delegations, included a separate narrow-format meeting with the participation of the heads of the member states of the Organisation and leaders of the observer states.

Exchange of opinions took place on the issues of international and regional situation. Common approaches of the Organisation members to building a more just and rational system of interstate relations in conditions of the crisis of the traditional structures of ensuring security and financial stability are reflected in Yekaterinburg Declaration signed by the heads of the SCO member states. The Declaration also outlines priority areas of joint activity in the framework of the Organisation.

The heads of state signed the SCO Counter-Terrorism Convention which cements the legal base for counter-terrorism interaction in the SCO framework and its potential, cooperation in this field was taken to a new level.

The approval of the SCO Regulations on Political Diplomatic Measures and Mechanisms of Response to Events Jeopardising Regional Peace, Security and Stability will help further enhance a mechanism of consultations, agree positions and interaction in international affairs.

Plenipotentiary representatives of the member states of the Organisation signed the Agreement among the Governments of the SCO Member States on Cooperation in the Field of Ensuring International Information Security and the Agreement on Training of Officers for Counter-Terrorism Agencies of the SCO Member States.

During the meeting in an open and friendly atmosphere main achievements of the activity of the Organisation in the period following 2008 Dushanbe summit were considered, immediate and long-term areas of joint work on the development of multifaceted cooperation were determined.

It was stated with satisfaction that since the previous meeting targeted steps had been taken to enhance and streamline the SCO activity, strengthen the international prestige of the Organisation.

The heads of state approved the report of the SCO Secretary-General on the work of the Organisation in the past year and the report of the RCTS Council on the work of the Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure in 2008.

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The heads of state underlined that in conditions of the global financial crisis ensuring security and maintaining stability in the SCO region was assuming paramount significance.

The parties noted the outcome of the Special Conference on Afghanistan under the SCO auspices (Moscow, 27 March 2009) dedicated to the issues of joint struggle against terrorism, illicit drug trafficking and organised crime.

The parties approved the results of the 7th meeting of defence ministers (Moscow, 29 April 2009), 1st meeting of ministers of internal affairs and public security (Yekaterinburg, 18 May 2009) and the 4th meeting of secretaries of security councils (Moscow, 20 May 2009) of the member states of the Organisation.

A task was set to raise the level of coordination of cooperation of the SCO member states in fighting against terrorism and other threats in the field of security. The RCTS is to play a central role in this field.

Proceeding from the outcome of the command staff joint counter-terrorism exercise of the SCO member states “Norak-Anti-Terror-2009” held 17-19 April 2009 in the Republic of Tajikistan, the parties acknowledged the expediency of continuing the practice of regular staging of joint counter-terrorism drills.

Taking into account the exchange of opinions at the meeting of heads of counternarcotics agencies of the SCO member states (Moscow, 19 May 2009) an instruction was given to submit to the next meeting of the SCO CHS agreed proposals concerning mechanisms of counternarcotics cooperation in the framework of the Organisation.

The parties noted the importance of implementing the Plan of activities on interaction in providing assistance in emergency events in the SCO framework for 2009-2010 which was approved at the 4th meeting of heads of departments of the SCO member states responsible for prevention and elimination of emergency events (5 June 2009, Aktau, the Republic of Kazakhstan).

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The heads of state noted with satisfaction the active participation of the SCO observer states in activities of mutual interest in the SCO framework.

A decision was taken to grant the status of SCO dialogue partner to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Belarus.

The Special Expert Group was instructed to continue its work on the draft document on the order of admitting new members to the SCO.

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The parties stated that the economic component in the SCO activity was showing significant dynamics, the legal base and organisational structure of trade and economic cooperation were being improved, the updated Action Plan on implementation of the Programme of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation of the SCO Member States approved by the Heads of Government Council (Astana, 30 October 2008) was being gradually carried out.

The parties acknowledged the expediency of taking effective measures aimed to minimise the consequences of the global financial crisis and encourage a closer regional trade, economic and investment cooperation in the SCO region.

The SCO Business Council and Interbank Consortium are designed to play an increasing role in this field and advised to proceed from the need of more active transition from the mainly bilateral cooperation to the implementation of multilateral projects.

The parties noted the importance of developing links in the social and cultural fields in the SCO framework that assists the strengthening of friendship and mutual understanding among peoples.

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The heads of state highly appreciated the chairmanship of the Russian Federation at the SCO and expressed gratitude to the Russian side for its hospitality during Yekaterinburg summit.

The next meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council will be held in 2010 in Tashkent. According to the SCO Charter the duties of a state holding chairmanship of the Organisation in the coming period are to be taken over by the Republic of Uzbekistan.