[Title] PRESS RELEASE Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

A meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (hereinafter referred to as the SCO or the Organization) was held on June 6 and 7, 2012 in Beijing. The meeting was attended by President N. Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China, President A. Atambaev of the Kyrgyz Republic, President V. Putin of the Russian Federation, President E. Rahmon of the Republic of Tajikistan, President I. Karimov of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The meeting was chaired by Chairman Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China.

The SCO Secretary General M. Imanaliev and Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure (RATS) of the SCO D. Dzhumanbekov participated in the meeting.

The meeting was attended and addressed by the heads of delegations of SCO observer states - President M. Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran, President Ts.Elbegdorzh of Mongolia, President A. Zardari of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Foreign Minister of the Republic of India S. Krishna, and as guests of the host - President H. Karzai of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and President G. Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan.

Also present were the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General - Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia M. Jenca, Chairman of the Executive Committee - Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States S. Lebedev, Secretary General of the Eurasian Economic Community T. Mansurov and Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization N. Bordyuzha.

The parties exchanged views on the current situation in the region and the world at large, on relevant international and regional issues, as well as on prospects for further SCO development.

It has been noted that the SCO founding and operation significantly contributes to deepened regional cooperation, strengthen friendship, good-neighborliness and mutual trust and facilitates the harmonious coexistence of the SCO member states.

The assessment of the Organization's activities and member states' approaches to further improvement of practical cooperation and its formats can be found in the Declaration of Heads of SCO Member States on building lasting peace and common prosperity in the region. It has also recorded the common views of SCO member states on strengthening bilateral relations in the new just democratic and multi-polar world under construction, their desire to create a space of indivisible security in the world, willingness to advance innovation-based and sustainable development with due regard of the specific realities of their countries and promote global progress through their own development, as well as specific measure taken in the field of international cooperation to this end.

The meeting approved the Basic Directions of the Mid-Term Development Strategy of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It has been noted that the SCO, as an open and harmonious regional cooperation organization with an established existing institutional framework and stable functioning structural bodies, helps to strengthen good-neighborly relations between the member states for the benefit of common prosperity.

The meeting heard and approved the report of the SCO Secretary-General on the Organization's activities and the report of the SCO RATS Council on the work of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

During this period the following meetings were held: the meeting of the SCO CHG (November 7, 2011 in St. Petersburg), of heads of ministries and agencies responsible for emergency relief (September 28, 2011 in Dushanbe), of ministers in charge of external economic and trade relations (October 26, 2011 in Dushanbe), of transport ministers (October 28, 2011 in Moscow), the heads of anti-drug agencies (April 2, 2012 in Beijing), of secretaries of security councils (April 12, 2012 in Beijing), of chairman of supreme courts (April 23-25, 2012 in Beijing), of heads of supreme audit institutions (April 23-24, 2012 in Shanghai), of defense ministers (April 24, 2012 in Beijing), of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (May 11, 2012 in Beijing), of the SCO Forum (April 23-24, 2012 in Almaty), of finance ministers and chairmen of the central (national) banks (May 16-17, 2012 in Beijing), of culture ministers (June 4-7, 2012 in Beijing), of attorneys general (June 5-6, 2012 in Dushanbe).

Following the summit commemorating the SCO 10th anniversary, intense joint work has been carried out in the key areas of political, economic and humanitarian cooperation that yielded a number of specific results.

The heads of state noted the trend towards aggravation of threats such as terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime, as well as problems related to the destabilization in various regions of the world. Against this background, it remains urgent to take active political and diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing crises and joint response to them, including security measures.

The meeting approved a new edition of the Regulation on Political and Diplomatic Measures and Mechanisms of SCO Response to Situations Threatening Peace, Security and Stability in the Region and the Program of Cooperation among SCO Member States on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism for 2013-2015 which enhanced the legal framework for member states cooperation in the field of security.

The heads of state underlined the importance of cooperation among the SCO member states in ensuring international information security and noted advisability of countering the use of information and communication technologies in a manner contrary to international peace, stability and security. They agreed to promote the elaboration, under the UN auspices, of a code of conduct in the field of international information security.

The heads of state called for the settlement of the situation around the Iranian nuclear program solely by political and diplomatic means.

The heads of state noted that the unilateral and unlimited build-up of missile defense systems by one state or a group of states with no regard to the legitimate interests of other countries can undermine international security and strategic stability in the world. The related issues should be resolved by all the countries concerned through political and diplomatic efforts.

The heads of state noted that significant results had been achieved in the development of economic cooperation in the region. They expressed willingness to continue making efforts aimed at creating favorable conditions for trade and investment, building technical and economic cooperation in non-resource sectors of the economy, combating illicit movement of goods and protecting intellectual property.

The meeting stressed the need to continue taking practical steps on developing multilateral financial and economic cooperation in the region. In this regard, the meeting participants noted the importance of the mechanism of meetings of finance ministers and chairmen of central (national) banks of the member states for sharing experiences in ensuring financial and economic stability in the SCO countries and expanding financial and banking cooperation.

The heads of the SCO member states positively assessed the work done in reviewing the issue of establishing the SCO Development Fund (Special Account) and the SCO Development Bank and instructed to continue this work aiming at its early conclusion.

They expressed willingness to make efforts to ensure energy security in the SCO region.

The meeting has stressed the need for an early entry into force of the Agreement between the governments of SCO member states on cooperation in the field of agriculture signed in June 2010 for enhancing the efficiency of cooperation in the agricultural sector.

The heads of state believe that serious consideration should be given to strengthening cooperation in culture, science and technology, innovation, tourism, health care, including sanitary and epidemiological welfare in the SCO region.

The member states noted that the success of the "SCO Year of Good-neighborliness and Friendship" contributed to the continued strengthening of friendship and cooperation among them.

The parties praised the Secretariat and RATS, as bodies insuring smooth and effective functioning of the SCO, its Business Council, Interbank Association and the SCO Forum for playing an important role in the development of the potential for economic and scientific cooperation.

In view of the evolving international situation and increased SCO activities, the heads of state noted the expedience for the parties and the SCO permanent bodies to enhance the information support provided to the Organization in order to generate an objective image of the SCO.

The SCO member states are in favor of expanded cooperation in the international arena, strengthened cooperation with the SCO observer states and dialogue partners, as well as with international and regional organizations - the United Nations and its specialized agencies, ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EurAsEC.

Taking into account the desire of the states concerned to join the SCO, the member states are willing to continue work on the harmonization of the necessary legal, financial and administrative terms for the admission of new members to be approved by consensus, and will strive for an early completion of this work.

The member states will continue the policy of expanding SCO international relations and cooperation with other multilateral organizations and associations.

The heads of state decided to grant the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan a SCO observer status, and the Republic of Turkey – a SCO dialogue partner.

The heads of state decided to appoint Mr. D. Mezentsev (Russian Federation) as the SCO Secretary-General and Mr. Zhang Sinfena (China) as the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure for the period from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015.

The heads of state highly appreciated the chairmanship of the People's Republic of China in the SCO and expressed gratitude to the Chinese side for its hospitality accorded during the summit in Beijing.

In accordance with the SCO Charter, the chairmanship in the Organization in the coming period is being assumed by the Kyrgyz Republic. The next meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states will be held in 2013 in the Kyrgyz Republic.