Shanghai Summit Ends, Leaders Issue Press Communique

The heads of states of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan issued a press communique at the end of the two-day summit Friday. The communique said the summit was held in a constructive and friendly atmosphere full of mutual understanding. The communique reiterated the stance of the leaders on the admission of Uzbekistan to the "Shanghai Five", the launch of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Shanghai treaty on crackdown on terrorism, separatism and extremism. The six heads of states unanimously agree to continue pursuing close co-ordination and developing new areas of cooperation within the framework of the SCO. They reaffirmed their obligation to the basic principles behind the treaty on deepening military trust in border regions signed in Shanghai in 1996, the treaty on reducing military forces in border regions signed in Moscow in 1997 and other documents signed during previous summits of the "Shanghai Five". The heads of states made comprehensive and indepth exchanges of their views on the current international situation and unanimously held that the establishment of the SCO will help promote the multi- polarization of the world and the democratization of the international relations. They expressed their willingness to make active efforts to strengthen global and regional strategic stability, maintain and further perfect the systems of arms control and disarmament treaties. The heads of states pointed out that the current situation in Asia demands that all the countries on the Asian continent enhancing their mutual trust and co-operation to ensure peace, securities and stability for all. As proposed by Kazakhstan, the SCO will hold its first summit of heads of governments of member countries in mid-September of 2001. The heads of states agree that the foreign and defense ministers of the SCO member countries will hold annual meetings to strengthen and expand their co-operation on major international and regional issues, first and foremost on issues concerning security and stability in central Asia. They held that measures must be taken to accelerating the process for the negotiations and signing of relevant documents to facilitate the establishment and effective operation of an anti- terrorism organization in Bishkek.