Tajik president Emomali Rahmon yesterday participated in the meeting of the Council of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations.
The Tajik president’s official website says the heads of state held a thorough exchange of views on the priority tasks for further improving the activities of the SCO in order to strengthen and deepen multilateral cooperation in the new conditions, and also discussed current international and regional issues and the situation in the region of the Organization.
Rahmon reportedly recalled that 23 years ago, when creating the SCO, the heads of the founding states focused their attention on the problems of Central Asia and designated this region as the "core of the SCO". In this regard, the need for a more active presence of the Organization in Central Asia, which in recent years has been in the zone of increased attention of external actors, was noted.
Emomali Rahmon expressed gratitude to the member states for supporting Tajikistan's initiative to establish the SCO Anti-Drug Center in Dushanbe as an integral component of the future modernized Organization and emphasized that the Government of Tajikistan will create the necessary conditions for the effective operation of this structure.
He noted with satisfaction the approval at the SCO Summit of a comprehensive Action Plan initiated by Tajikistan for the implementation of the SCO Economic Development Strategy until 2030 and a proposal to create a new mechanism for interaction in the field of antimonopoly regulation within the Organization.
Emomali Rahmon in his speech reportedly also accentuated the issues of ensuring security in the SCO region. Having emphasized that security is the basis for the implementation of all creative initiatives, Tajik leader focused on the need to continue the joint work of the SCO member states in the fight against terrorism and extremism, cross-border organized crime, including drug trafficking and cybercrime.
Emomali Rahmon stated that the common interests of the SCO member states are in the early establishment of peace, stability and security in Afghanistan. He spoke up for continuing efforts to provide assistance to the brotherly Afghan people.
Following the meeting, the heads of state adopted a package of 24 documents, in particular the Astana Declaration, the SCO Initiative "On World Unity for a Just Peace, Harmony and Development", Proposals of the Council of Foreign Ministers on improving the activities of the SCO, completion of the procedure for admitting the Republic of Belarus to the SCO, the Program of Cooperation of the SCO Member States in Countering Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism for 2025-2027, the SCO Anti-Drug Strategy for 2024-2029 and the Strategy for the Development of Energy Cooperation of the SCO Member States until 2030.
The Summit was attended by the Heads of the SCO member states – the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Uzbekistan and the head of the delegation of the Republic of India. The heads of the SCO observer states – the Republic of Belarus and Mongolia – were also invited to participate in the meeting, and the heads of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the State of Qatar, the Republic of Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates, as guests of the presiding party, as well as the UN Secretary General and the heads of the executive bodies of the ECO, CIS, CICA, CSTO and IOFS.
