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

A regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held on July 30-31, 2014 in Dushanbe (Tajikistan). The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. Musinov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic E. Abdyldaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S. Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan S. Aslov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan A. Kamilov .

The meeting was chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan S. Aslov.

The SCO Secretary General D. Mezentsev and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure Zhang Sinfen participated in the meeting.

The heads of delegations were received by President E. Rahmon of the Republic of Tajikistan.

In the context of the preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states scheduled to be held on September 11-12, 2014 in Dushanbe, the meeting considered a wide range of issues of further improvement and development of cooperation in the various areas of the Organization's activities and enhancement of the SCO role and place in the international and regional affairs. They also exchanged views on the development of the situation in the world and in the SCO region, important regional and international issues, as well as expansion of SCO relations with interested states and other international organizations and institutions.

The heads of delegations believe that the United Nations should continue to play a central coordinating role in international relations. The member states are in favor of further strengthening the leading role of the UN Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security so that to make it more effective in carrying out it functions set forth in the UN Charter. They believe that in order to achieve the broadest possible consensus on the reform of the UN Security Council it is necessary to continue constructive consultations seeking to find a comprehensive solution that would take into account mutual interests and concerns, avoid setting artificial deadlines and imposing reform options that are not supported by the majority of the United Nations member countries.

The SCO member states reaffirmed their commitment to further development of cooperation with interested countries, regional and international organizations and agencies in the fight against international terrorism, separatism, extremism, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, transnational organized crime, cyber threats, as well as other challenges and threats to security in the region and around the world, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Emphasizing respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the member states express support to the efforts of the Afghan people aimed at national reconciliation, restoration of peace and revival of the country that is led and owned by the Afghans themselves. The heads of delegations have reaffirmed that the SCO stands for making Afghanistan an independent, peaceful, neutral and prosperous nation and underlined the UN central coordinating role in the international efforts on the Afghan settlement.

The heads of delegations welcome the efforts of the Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to ensure peace and stability in the country that meet the interests of the SCO member states and will contribute to regional security.

In this context, the SCO member states are ready to continue developing good-neighborly relations and equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with Afghanistan on issues of mutual interest.

The heads of delegations expressed a common opinion that the complex changes taking place in the Middle East and North Africa should not lead to delays in the resolution of long-standing conflicts whose settlement would have a positive overall impact on the situation in the region.

The heads of delegations called for the resolution of the Syrian crisis exclusively by political and diplomatic means through continued comprehensive direct inter-Syrian dialogue on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué of June 30, 2012 and the relevant provisions of Resolution 2118 of the UN Security Council.

The heads of delegations noted that the "Joint Action Plan" agreed on November 24, 2013 in Geneva by the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany, Iran, China, Russia, USA and France, constituted an important step in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, strengthening the atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding between the states concerned and in the region as a whole.

The heads of delegations welcome the joint signing by of the United Kingdom, China, Russia, USA and France, on May 6, 2014 in New York, of the Protocol on security assurances to the Treaty on the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia. This is an important step towards the realization of the initiatives of the countries of the region and a significant contribution to strengthening regional and international security and the global non-proliferation regime.

The heads of delegations expressed their deep condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the crash of a "Malaysia Airlines" passenger plane that took place on July 17, 2014 in the territory of Ukraine. They stressed the need for an open, impartial, independent investigation and comprehensive cooperation in the effort to establish the causes of the tragedy, as provided by the UN Security Council Resolution 2166.

The heads of delegations stressed the importance of the member states' cooperation within the SCO and in the UN in the field of international information security. They expressed willingness to intensify efforts in the fight against the use of information and communication technologies and capacity of the global Internet to undermine the political, economic and social security of the member states, universal moral foundations of social life, and prevent propaganda of terrorism, separatism, extremism, fascism and chauvinism.

The member states support the elaboration of universal rules, principles and standards of responsible behavior by states in the information space, and consider the dissemination of the draft "Rules of conduct in the field of international information security" as an official document of the UN General Assembly, an important step.

The heads of delegations approved the draft decision of the Council of Heads of member states "On a draft SCO Development Strategy until 2025" that would define benchmarks for the member states' future cooperation and increased efficiency of the Organization to achieve the tasks facing it that relate to the promotion of peace and stability in the SCO region.

The heads of delegations were unanimous that the forthcoming celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory over fascism in the Second World War would be an important event for the SCO member states. They approved a draft decision of the Council of Heads of SCO member states on the celebration of this date, which will be submitted to the forthcoming meeting of the SCO CHS in Dushanbe for approval. The lessons of the Second World War confirm the importance of avoiding, in present, new tragedies entailing large scale loss of human life and the need for joint efforts to effectively counter security threats.

The heads of delegations approved the draft Procedure for granting the status of the SCO member state and the new draft model Memorandum on Commitments of a state applying for SCO membership and praised the work done in coordinating and preparing these documents for the adoption at the meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states to be held in Dushanbe.

The meeting took note of the results of the inventory of the SCO legal framework. The ministers signed a relevant SCO CMFA decision and approved a draft decision of the SCO CHS on this issue.

The heads of delegations have noted with satisfaction that the presidency of the Republic of Tajikistan in the SCO is making a significant contribution to further strengthening of good- neighborliness, friendship and mutually beneficial multilateral cooperation between the member states of the Organization.

The member states confirmed the need for greater involvement of the SCO observer states and dialogue partners with the practical cooperation within the Organization.

The heads of delegations stressed the importance of developing SCO partnership relations with other international organizations and forums, including the UN, UN ESCAP, UNODC, ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EurAsEC, CARICC and ECO, and they also welcomed the signing on May 20, 2014 of the Memorandum of Understanding between the SCO Secretariat and the Secretariat of the Conference on interaction and confidence building measures in Asia.

The SCO Secretary General D. Mezentsev presented a Report on the Secretariat's work over the past year which was approved by the ministers.

The heads of delegations also took a number of decisions regarding the issues of the Organization's activities and the forthcoming meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states to be held in Dushanbe.

The heads of delegations appreciated the ongoing work done by the presiding party related to the preparation of the Dushanbe meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states.

The meeting was held in a spirit of friendship and mutual understanding traditional for the SCO member states' relations.