SCO activities not directed against anybody - secretary general

BEIJING, February 4. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) never was and never will be directed against anybody as mutual trust and mutual benefit have become the fundamental principles of relations between SCO member countries, the organization’s Secretary General Rashid Alimov said on Thursday. Tajikistan’s Alimov replaced Russia’s Dmitry Mezentsev as SCO Secretary General on January 1 on a rotating basis and will serve for the next three years in this position. "SCO is an organization of a new type. Mutual trust and mutual benefit, equality and consultations, respect for variety of cultures and striving toward joint development became fundamental principles of relations between Organization’s member countries. The power of ‘Shangai spirit’ directs SCO’s energy to sustaining peace and stability in the region in the conditions when the world is undergoing deep changes because of emergence of new challenges and threats, first of all, international terrorism, extremism and separatism," Alimov noted. He reminded that the year of 2016 is "a special year in the history of Shanghai Cooperation Organization." "The leaders of SCO member countries will meet in Tashkent in June and assess the activities of the organization over the last 15 years. Preparations for jubilee summit is SCO’s main priority for 2016, the year that promises to be busy and productive," Alimov said. "The ‘SCO family’ grew by three times over the last 15 years. Today, it brings together 18 countries where more than 3 billion people live in total. The organization has turned into an important gravitation center of the multi-polar world. At the same time, the activities of the organization never were and never will be directed against anybody," the secretary general noted. The year of 2016 "signals the new spring in the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization," Alimov said. "Sinergy of the ‘Shanghai spirit’, unity and solidarity of member states will secure the organization’s movement to new quality, to new level of practical cooperation with the aim of better life," he concluded. SCO The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a permanent regional international association, the establishment of which was announced on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. The organization brings together Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, Belarus, Afghanistan and Mongolia currently hold observer status in the organization. During the SCO summit in Ufa on July 9 and July 10 the start of the admission procedure for India and Pakistan was announced. The leaders of the SCO member-countries also decided to grant Belarus observer status, while Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal became dialogue partners. SCO priority spheres include joint fight against terrorism and extremism, cooperation in the spheres of education, energy, transport, and telecommunications. The total population of SCO countries is almost 1.6 billion people, and the total GDP of the member countries is $11.6 trillion. Read more