[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 September 11and 12, 2014 in Dushanbe. The meeting was attended by President N. Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman Xi Jinping 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 President E. Rahmon of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The SCO Secretary General D. Mezentsev and Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) Executive Committee Zhang Sinfen participated in the meeting.

The meeting was attended and addressed by the heads of delegations of the SCO observer states: President H. Karzai of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Foreign Minister of the Republic of India S. Svaradzh, President H. Ruhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran, President Ts. Elbegdorzh of Mongolia, advisor to the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on national security and foreign affairs S. Aziz, as well as a guest of host – President G. Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan.

Also present were the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs J. Feltman, 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 and Deputy Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nian Lin.

The heads of state have stressed the constructive nature of the meeting that was held in an atmosphere of mutual trust, openness and mutual understanding traditional for the relations between the SCO member states that are based on the principles of peace, good neighborliness and mutual respect.

The heads of state reviewed the key results of the SCO operation since the Bishkek Summit of 2013, discussed a wide range of issues of multilateral cooperation in political, trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian fields, and exchanged views on various regional and international issues of mutual interest, inter alia, on the situation in Afghanistan, the Middle East, North Africa and other regions adjacent to the SCO.

The heads of state discussed relevant issues of international and regional security. It has been stressed that terrorism, separatism, extremism, illicit trafficking in drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, cross-border organized crime and cyber threats continue to be the factors that negatively impact security and stability in the SCO region. They have expressed their willingness to continue close cooperation in the fight against the above threats and challenges.

Particular attention was paid to the collaboration of the SCO member states in the United Nations where the similarity or convergence of the SCO member states views on urgent issues of the international agenda manifests itself and which was also reflected in the text of the Dushanbe Declaration of the Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The member states support the elaboration by the UN of universal rules, principles and standards of the responsible behavior by states in the information space and will continue to work together to promote the draft "Rules of conduct in the field of international information security" distributed on behalf of the SCO member states as an official UN document.

Positive assessment was made of the ongoing work on the implementation of the Action Plan for 2013-2017 in support of the implementation of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation of SCO Member States, Plan of Actions for implementation of the Program of multilateral trade and economic cooperation within the SCO and the List of Measures for further development of project activities in the SCO framework in 2012-2016.

The heads of state noted that the successful chairmanship of the Republic of Tajikistan in the SCO helped to further strengthen the friendship between the peoples of the member states and cooperation across the entire range of issues of the Organization's agenda.

During the past period the following meetings were held: the meeting of the SCO CHG (November 28-29, 2013 in Tashkent), meeting of attorneys general (September 26, 2013 in Bishkek), meeting of ministers responsible for external economic and trade relations (October 23, 2013 in Tashkent), meeting of ministers of transport (November 15, 2013 in Tashkent), meeting of heads of services responsible for ensuring sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population (November 22, 2013 in Saint-Petersburg), meeting of the SCO RATS Council (September 20, 2013 in Yaroslavl, March 28, 2014 in Tashkent,), meeting of defense ministers (April 1, 2014 in Kayrakkum), meeting of secretaries of security councils (April 17, 2014 in Dushanbe), meeting of culture ministers (June 10-11, 2014 in Dushanbe), meeting of heads of anti-drug agencies (June 19, 2014 in Dushanbe), meeting of the SCO Forum (June 23-24, 2014 in Bishkek), meeting of heads of border services of the competent authorities of the SCO member states (June 25-26, 2014 in Kayrakkum,), meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (July 30-31, 2014 in Dushanbe), meeting of chairmen of supreme courts (September 4-5, 2014 in Astana) , meeting of the Council of the SCO Interbank Association (September 10, 2014 in Dushanbe), meeting of the Board of the SCO Business Council (January 17, 2014 in Beijing, September 10, 2014 in Dushanbe).

The meeting approved the Procedure for granting the status of the SCO member state and new edition of the model Memorandum of Commitments of a state applying for SCO membership designed to promote the improvement of the legal framework for the Organization's activities.

Having noted with satisfaction the practical steps taken by the SCO to enhance cooperation with the SCO observer states and dialogue partners, in particular, the meeting of national coordinators of the SCO member states with the authorized representatives of the SCO observer states held on April 26, 2014, as well as the first academic and practical conference on cooperation in combating international terrorism and extremism among the SCO member states and observer states held on October 25, 2013 at the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS.

The heads of state also support the expansion of cooperation with the UN and its specialized agencies - UN ESCAP, UNODC and others, as well as with ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EurAsEC, ECO and CARICC. They 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 authorized representatives of the SCO member states signed an intergovernmental Agreement on favorable conditions for international road transport, which will promote the development of trade and economic cooperation among the countries of the region.

The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the SCO member states has instructed to continue preparation of the SCO Development Strategy until 2025 and submit it, in the prescribed manner, to the next meeting of the SCO CHS for approval.

The heads of state have noted that an important role in the development of business, trade and investment cooperation in the SCO region belongs to the collaboration of business and financial communities of the SCO member states, the SCO Business Council and SCO Interbank Association, inter alia, by engaging the observer states and dialogue partners' potential. The meeting supported holding exhibitions and other events in the SCO member states aimed at increased exports and expanded investment cooperation.

It has been viewed necessary to strengthen the dialogue and expand financial and banking cooperation to promote economic development of the SCO member states, deepen regional economic and trade relations, as well as enhance the region's role in the global economy. The next, the third meeting of finance ministers and chairmen of central (national) banks of the SCO member states will be held in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The meeting has noted the importance of the work done to review the issues related to the establishment of the SCO Development Fund (Special Account) and the SCO Development Bank and has instructed to continue these efforts seeking its early completion.

Having positively assessed the results of the cooperation in cultural and humanitarian filed, the heads of state have supported further development of multilateral and bilateral relations in the field of culture, science and technology, innovation, education, health, tourism and sports which promote strengthened relations of good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation, spiritual convergence, progress in the dialogue among civilizations in the interests of the peoples of the SCO region.

The heads of state noted with satisfaction an effectively developing cooperation in the field of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population and called for the continuation of joint efforts in this area.

The heads of state congratulated President V. Putin of the Russian Federation on the success of the 22nd Olympic Winter Games held in Sochi. The Russian side expressed its appreciation to the SCO member states for their support provided during the preparation and holding of the Games, as well as for cooperation within the SCO in ensuring security at the Olympics.

The member states welcome the decision of the International Exhibitions Bureau on the selection of Astana as a venue for holding the international exhibition EXPO 2017. The SCO member states will actively assist the Kazakh side in ensuring success of the EXPO including in respect of security measures.

The meeting heard and approved the reports by SCO Secretary-General on the activities of the Organization over the past year and of the Council of SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure on the SCO RATS activities.

2013. The heads of state commended the efforts of the SCO permanent bodies to promote practical interaction and coordination of cooperation within the Organization.

The heads of state highly appreciated the chairmanship of the Republic of Tajikistan in the SCO and expressed gratitude to the Tajik side for its hospitality during the summit held in Dushanbe.

In accordance with the SCO Charter, the chairmanship in the Organization for the coming period is being assumed by the Russian Federation. The next meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member states will be held in 2015 in Ufa, Russian Federation.