Sept. 16 – The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held its annual summit in Kyrgyzstan last Friday to discuss issues such as how to boost economic cooperation and combat terrorism.
The members of the SCO are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In addition to its current members, the SCO also has a number of observer states, including Mongolia, Iran, India and Pakistan. The leaders of all the member countries were in attendance, as well as high-level representatives from the observer countries.
Chinese officials strengthened their calls for the creation of two new “silk roads”. The officials stated that the silk roads could be combined with the recently proposed Bangladesh-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The purpose of these developments, according to commentary in the People’s Daily Overseas Edition, is to “greatly expand the strategic space for our country’s economic development.”
During his first meeting with the SCO, Chinese President Xi Jinping also proposed the creation of an SCO development bank and special account. All delegates attending the meeting met the proposals favorably. Sergi Ivanovich, an official at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia, said that he saw the proposals as an “effective mechanism to ensure economic development and national security of SCO member countries.”
President Xi and the other leaders also stressed the importance of continuing cooperation in the areas of transportation, energy and agriculture.
Additionally, the idea to form an energy club gained further traction. The purpose of the club would be to help formulate a joint energy strategy for the region and determine the energy sources of the future. Ivan Grachyov, head of the Energy Committee in Russia’s State Duma, said the club had the potential to “establish an independent system of oil and gas price prediction as the existing ones sometimes raise doubts.”
The SCO also discussed the possible dangers of unrest in the Middle East and Africa, as well as guarding against the “three evil forces” of “religious extremists, terrorists and separatists.”
Further discussions were focused on the SCO’s potential actions in Syria and Afghanistan.
The summit concluded with the signing of the Bishkek Declaration, which formalized the decisions taken during the meeting. The 2014 SCO Summit will be held in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
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