SCO: safety guarantee for Eurasia

This year it has turned 10 years since the moment of formation of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). So far the some important practical steps were made, in both development of Organization, and cooperation strengthening between the participant-countries in political, economic, social and humanitarian fields.

In the opinion of the most experts the main aspects, which are conditioned the growing world authority and attractiveness of SCO, the timeliness and demand of the creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization across the Eurasian territory, actuality of performance and resolution targets are. Together with the questions of protection providing the most important place is dedicated to the resolution of the problems of the stability of social-economic development of the countries that enter the ones. Besides it the SCO, being equitable union of governments that have common borders, close historian-cultural, political, economic and humanitarian relations, the one freely demonstrates that its activity is not directed against the interests of other countries and does not have block confrontational principles.

And finally, at the current stage the fact that SCO reasoning from its main principles, declares itself as the reliable guarantee of stability saving, as containing factor that admonishes the attempts of radical and extremists forces, of various spoilers to destabilize the situation in the region, to turn it into the arena of opposition and confrontation gains the special value.

As the history shows, the base of SCO includes the aspiration of the following six governments of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China in order to resolve the issues of the regional security and to strengthen the trust mutually. It can be said with certainty that the role and the value of SCO in the solving of both regional and global security grows year by year.

For ten years of its existence the Organization has become as the active factor of both stability and security providing, the development of the mutual approaches to the resolution of the situations that threat the security. Thus, within the frames of “the Shanghai convention as to the fighting with terrorism, separatism and extremism” the coordination and cooperation of law-enforcement agencies and security agencies, frontier services at struggle with terrorism, illegal immigration and drug traffic, join military trainings are carried out. In 2002 the regional anti-terror structure SCO, and in 2004 the Executive committee of the regional anti-terror structure (RATS) of SCO began its work. In 2005 with taking into account the accumulated experience the “Conception of cooperation between the governments-members of SCO at struggle with anti-terror, separatism and extremism” was developed. Totally in a decade in the sphere of anti-terror activity more than 40 documents were adopted.
Pretty actual subject is drug-related crimes that are one of the main dangers. Cooperation of the countries-participants in this sphere is based on the “Agreement on the cooperation in the struggle with illegal circulation of drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors”.

Within the frame of the SCO the special attention is dedicated to the development of cooperation in economy, trade and investment sphere. The starting point of the process on creation of significant opportunities in the sphere of trade and investments between the members of the SCO the “Memorandum on the main objectives and trends of regional economic cooperation” that was signed at the first meeting on September 14, 2001 in Almaty has become.
The contacts are being intensified in the humanitarian filed that includes such spheres as culture, health services, science, sports and tourism. In accordance with the transnational agreements the mechanism of annual meetings of the ministers of culture, the regular events are being carried out, indented on the spiritual contingence of the friendly people as to the cross-fertilization of their cultures and arts.

About the growing authority and impact of the SCO, the interest from the side of the governments, among them Iran, Pakistan, India, Mongolia are, serves as evidence. That is why for the last years the SCO has decided for itself not a prime issue – how to extend its field of activity, without the adoption of new members. It were created two forms of the cooperation with the organization by way of both country-observer and dialog partner. Based on the Statute on the status of the observer at the SCO and dialog partner status, four governments – Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran and India have received the status of the observers, while Belarus and Sri Lanka have received the status of the dialog partners.

Probably it is conditioned by the opinion that for the moment in particular, Iran considers the SCO only as the protector of its geopolitical interests. Iran has demonstrated such course at variorum times. Thus in the resulting resolution of 37th session of the CMFA of Islamic organization conference in Dushanbe the central place was given to Iran to develop the own nuclear program…

As to India and Pakistan, it is not quite possibly that conflict potential of their two sided relations can be projected by them on the traditional for the SCO oratory concerning the three powers of the evil – terror, separatism and extremism. Also it is possible the variant of their aspiration to the SCO with a view to impose a veto on the decisions or declarations that would seem for Islamabad or Deli as unacceptable.

However the work on the institutionalization of new members’ acceptance mechanism continued: within the frames of new law base creation for the acceptance of new members last year the constitution on the order of the acceptance of new members into the organization was made. That said at the moment the process of the standard document development is being carried out on the obligations of the declarant state.

Kazakhstan got the honorable, but at the same time very responsible mission to preside in the SCO in the anniversary year. The carrying out of Chief Magistrates Summit in Astana of June 15 that is dedicated to the ten years since the formation of the organization will be as the Superlative of the Kazakhstan presidency in the SCO. Considering the fact that the forthcoming summit is the posterity stage in the history of the SCO, its anniversary agenda will include the propositions to sum up the results of the first ten years of organization’s activity and to define the perspectives of its further development.

Moreover, it is expected that the acceptance of Astana declaration will be the central event, the one includes the following: the estimation of the international situation, role and place of the SCO in the region and in the world, general vision of the global agenda, main challenges and threats with which the world faces. The counter-drugs strategy of the SCO for the 2011-2016 in the package of the realization program is prepared for the signing. Since Afghanistan is drug-threats source, the question regarding the changing of its status from specially invited state to the observer will be also in the center of the summit attention, as this step will be promote the systematization of the Organization contracts with Kabul, which are limited only by the participation of the president of this country in capacity of the guest in the sessions of the Chief Magistrate Council. It is also planned to adopt the Memorandum on the obligations of the country that is competitioner for the membership in the SCO.

The world changes pretty fast, the one is full of new and old threats, but the SCO, the members of which are united in the understanding of the nature and character of these threats, they are full of resoluteness to strengthen the safety in the region and all over the world. Resting on the historical links of both neighborliness and friendship, the members of the Organization are going to reach in perspective the required level of well-being of the region in whole.

It only remains to hope that results of the summit, exchange of views, ideas and solutions will serve as basis for the activation of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation among the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.