"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] PRESS RELEASE Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

[Place]
[Date] July 25, 2008
[Source] Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat
[Notes]
[Full text]

A regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO CMFA) was held on July 25, 2008 in Dushanbe. The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan N. Ermekbaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic E. Karabaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia S. Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan H. Zarifi, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan I. Nematov. The SCO Secretary-General B. Nurgaliev and Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure M, Subanov participated in the meeting.

The meeting was chaired by the Tajik side.

The ministers discussed the issues related to the preparation of the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO members to be held on August 28, 2008 in Dushanbe and they have positively assessed the efforts of the presiding party to arrange Dushanbe summit at a high level.

The heads of foreign ministries noted with satisfaction that over the past year the tasks and decisions made by the Bishkek Summit had been successfully implemented. Productive work has been done on deepening and expanding multifaceted cooperation in the field of security, as well as in foreign policy, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas.

During the exchange of views on topical international issues, including main world trends and strengthening of stability and security in the region, the ministers noted identity or similarity of the SCO member states' approaches to key problems of today.

The ministers have reaffirmed the need to deepen practical cooperation with the observer states of the SCO in the areas of common interest.

The foreign ministers have noted that the SCO should continue to pursue a policy of openness in the future. It has been deemed advisable to speed up the establishment of the SCO partnership mechanism for dialogue and networking with the states and international organizations interested in the SCO.

Serious attention has been paid to the issue of Afghanistan, including acceleration of the Liaison Group SCO-Afghanistan.

The SCO Secretary-General B. Nurgaliev presented a report on the work of the Secretariat over the past year that was approved by the ministers.

The foreign ministers took a number of decisions on organizational aspects of the SCO permanent bodies' work.

The CMFA meeting was held in the traditional spirit of friendship and mutual understanding