[Title] Joint Communiqué Meeting of the Council of Heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

A regular meeting of the Council of Heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO CHS) was held June 15-16, 2009 in Yekaterinburg. The meeting was attended by President N. Nazarbaev of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China, President K. Bakiev of the Kyrgyz Republic, President D. Medvedev of the Russian Federation, President E. Rakhmon of the Republic of Tajikistan, President I. Karimov of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

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

The SCO Secretary-General B. Nurgaliev and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) M. Subanov participated in the meeting.

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

For the first time, the format of the summit, in addition to a narrow meeting of the heads of the SCO member states and a plenary session attended by the heads of all delegations, included a separate narrow-format meeting of the heads of the Organization’s member states with the leaders of the SCO observer states.

A detailed exchange of opinions took place on the issues related to international and regional situation. Common approaches of the Organization’s member states to building a more just and rational architecture of interstate relations, given the crisis of traditional security and financial stability mechanisms, have been reflected in the Yekaterinburg Declaration signed by the heads of the SCO member states. The Declaration also outlines priority areas for joint cooperation within the Organization.

The heads of state have signed the SCO Convention against Terrorism that strengthens the legal framework for the SCO anti-terrorism cooperation and its potential and takes the cooperation in this field to a new level.

The approval of the SCO Regulation on political and diplomatic measures and mechanisms of SCO response to situations threatening peace, security and stability in the region will help further enhance a mechanism of consultations and coordination of positions and cooperation in international matters.

The representatives of the member states of the Organization signed the Agreement between the SCO member governments on cooperation in the field of international information security and the Agreement on training personnel of anti-terrorist units of the SCO member states.

In an open and friendly atmosphere, the meeting reviewed the key outcomes of the SCO activity since the Dushanbe summit in 2008, outlined short- and long-term priorities for the joint work on further development of multifaceted cooperation.

It has been noted with satisfaction that since the last meeting targeted steps had been taken to ensure high quality and improved dynamics of the SCO activity and strengthen the position of the Organization internationally.

The meeting approved the report of the SCO Secretary-General on the Organization activities over the past year and the report of the SCO RATS Council on the work of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure in 2008.

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The heads of state have underscored that under the global financial crisis, maintenance of security and stability in the SCO region is of paramount importance.

The meeting took note of the outcome of the special Conference on Afghanistan convened under the SCO auspices on March 27, 2009 in Moscow, which focused on joint measures of countering terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime.

The meeting approved the results of the seventh meeting of defense ministers (April 29, 2009, Moscow), the first meeting of ministers of interior and public security (May 18, 2009, Ekaterinburg) and the fourth meeting of security council secretaries (May 20, 2009, Moscow) of the member states of the Organization.

The meeting set a task of improving the coordination of the SCO cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other security threats. The central role in this process should belong to the SCO RATS.

Based on the results of the joint command and staff antiterrorist exercises of the SCO member states – “Norak-Antiterror – 2009” conducted on April 17-19, 2009 in the Republic of Tajikistan, it has been considered appropriate to continue the practice of holding regular joint counterterrorism exercises.

Based on the exchange of views at the meeting of the heads of the member states’ competent authorities in charge of combating illicit drug trafficking (May 19, 2009, Moscow), the meeting has instructed to submit, by the next meeting of the SCO CHS, agreed proposals on the mechanisms of anti-drug cooperation within the Organization.

The meeting noted the importance of the Action Plan for SCO cooperation in providing emergency relief assistance for 2009-2010, approved by the fourth meeting of the heads of the SCO member states’ agencies responsible for emergency management (June 5 2009, Aktau, Kazakhstan).

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The heads of state have noted with satisfaction that the SCO observer states take an active part in those Organization’s activities that are of mutual interest.

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

An ad Hoc Group of Experts has been requested to continue drafting the document on admission of new SCO members.

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The heads of state have noted that the SCO economic has significantly developed and the legal framework and organizational structure of trade and economic cooperation has improved. Te updated Plan of Actions in support of the implementation of the Program of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation of the SCO member states approved by the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (October 30 2008, Astana) has been consistently implemented.

It has been deemed expedient to take effective measures to minimize the effects of the global financial crisis and promote closer regional trade, economic and investment cooperation in the SCO region.

Increased role in this regard should be played by the SCO Business Council and the Interbank Association, which have been encouraged to move from a predominantly bilateral cooperation to the implementation of multilateral projects.

The meeting has noted the importance of deepened contacts in the humanitarian field within the SCO that contribute to the strengthening of friendship and mutual understanding between nations.

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

The next meeting of the Council of Heads of the SCO member states will be held in 2010 in Tashkent. In accordance with the SCO Charter, the Republic of Uzbekistan will assume chairmanship of the Organization in the coming period.