BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping has said with the entry of India andPakistan, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has gained morepotential for cooperation and more expectations from the internationalcommunity.
In his address to the representatives to the 13th meeting of SecurityCouncil Secretaries of the SCO in Beijing on Tuesday, Xi said maintainingregional security and stability has been the top priority of the bloc sinceit was founded.
“The SCO members have fought the ‘three evil forces’ of terrorism,separatism and extremism; prevented the overflow of negative effects fromhot issues; and made important contributions to keeping regional peace,development and prosperity,” Xi was quoted as saying by the state-run ChinaDaily.
Xi pointed out that when the SCO accepted Pakistan and India last year asnew members, it gained more potential for cooperation and more expectationsfrom the international community.
Deputy National Security Adviser Rajinder Khanna, Pakistan’s NSA NasserKhan Janjua along with top security officials of the SCO member countriescalled on Xi after the conclusion of their two-day meeting here yesterday.
The security officials met ahead of the SCO summit in the Chinese city ofQingdao to be held on June 9-10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduledto take part in the summit.
It will be the first summit of the SCO after India and Pakistan wereadmitted into the bloc last year.
The SCO, in which China plays an influential role, is comprised of China,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
Khanna, who is also the Secretary of the National Security CouncilSecretariat, today called on Xi along with other Secretaries of NationalSecurity Councils attending the meeting.
In his address to the SCO security officials, Xi said the member countrieshave expanded areas of cooperation and enriched their experience incooperation.
“Numerous challenges remain, including the ‘three evil forces’ plus drugsmuggling and cross-border organised crime, each of which threatens theregion. The risks require SCO members to handle the issues properly throughcorrect judgments,” he said.
The SCO members should uphold the strategic direction of securitycooperation, continue to boost mutual strategic trust, enhance coordinationof policy, uphold justice and jointly push the resolution of regional hotissues through political and diplomatic measures, Xi said.
Xi called on the other SCO members to build up their capacity for jointsecurity operations and build an efficient law-enforcement cooperationnetwork.
China will continue to integrate its national security with regionalsecurity, work with SCO members to build a new type of internationalrelations with features of mutual respect, justice and win-win cooperation;and push to build a community of shared future for mankind, Xi said.
The SCO security officials during their meeting discussed with Xi issueslike fighting terrorism and the “three evil forces”, beefing up informationsecurity and maintaining social stability, the report said.
China’s Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi who presided over the SCOsecurity officials meeting told reporters that the representatives reachedimportant consensuses during the meeting.
The relevant sides have agreed to submit such documents as enhancingcooperation in fighting the “three evil forces” to the SCO summit inQingdao for further approval, he said.