SCO leaders sign Samarkand declaration as battles continue between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

THE member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) have signed the Samarkand Declaration following the summit in Uzbekistan.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders have signed the Samarkand declaration despite violence continuing between members Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as reported on Friday, September 16.

The SCO members are: Russia, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Observer countries are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia; partner countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

The document’s main provisions:

• The countries reaffirmed the SCO’s non-targeting against other states and international organisations, and noted its openness to cooperation taking into account mutual interests;
• They also called for making the WTO more effective and reforming the organisation in the light of current economic realities;
• Pledged to step up cooperation in defence and security, to create a unified list of terrorist and extremist organisations and stressed the importance of conducting a joint counter-terrorism exercise titled “Peace Mission”;
• Denounced the unilateral build-up of global missile defence (BMD) systems by individual countries. This, in their view, has a negative impact on international security and stability;
• Acted against the militarisation of the ICT sphere and supported the launch of an UN-sponsored international convention against the criminal use of ICTs;
• Call for compliance with the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC);
• Advocated for maintaining weapons-free space and emphasised the necessity of concluding an international legally binding instrument that could guarantee the prevention of an arms race in outer space;
• Recognised the importance of implementing the action plan on Iran’s nuclear program, and called for strict compliance with the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons;
• Stressed the need for an inclusive government in Afghanistan, including representatives of all ethnic, religious and political groups;
  Agreed to form a task force on start-ups and innovation as well as one on poverty alleviation and traditional medicine;
• Approve the title of SCO Goodwill Ambassador;
• Declared the year 2023 as the Year of Tourism.

In total, the member countries signed some 40 documents, including a comprehensive plan for the implementation of the Treaty on Long-term Good Neighbourhood, Friendship and Cooperation.

Лидеры стран-участниц ШОС подписали Самаркандскую декларацию.

Основные тезисы:

📌Страны ШОС против вмешательства во внутренние дела государств под предлогом противодействия терроризму и экстремизму;
👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/TWCNutiHjf

— Ольга Скерис (@OGladyseva) September 16, 2022

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit was held on September 15-16 in Samarkand.

Earlier on Friday, September 16, the military of Tajikistan allegedly seized an administrative building in Kyrgyzstan.

Despite numerous reports of a seize fire and requests from SCO members, fighting appears to have continued.