SCO summit adopts Tashkent Declaration

Interfax June 17 The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) signed a document titled the Tashkent Declaration after a summit in Tashkent on Thursday. The declaration "summarizes the outcome of the SCO's work since it was set up, evaluates the activities of the organization's agencies and sets new goals," Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said. The SCO summit resulted in the signing of numerous other documents and the passing of several decisions. In particular, guidelines on the status of observer nations were approved and it was decided to award Mongolia this status. Also, a convention on the SCO's privileges and immunities was signed. The leaders of the organization's member-states signed agreements on cooperation in fighting drug trafficking and on the protection of secret information in the framework of the SCO anti-terrorist agency, whose headquarters were opened in Tashkent Thursday morning. The SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.