SCO Tashkent Declaration Warns: ‘Geopolitical Tensions,’ Terrorism Threaten Human Civilization

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At the end of its two-day summit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) produced its final Tashkent Declaration, touching on a number of strategically and economically-important issues. Uzbekistan’s 24.ky news agency noted that to counter the slowdown in economic growth, the SCO one of the best strategies is the “implementation of long-term, mutually beneficial projects, in the priority areas of cooperation and infrastructure development.” The SCO leaders backed China’s Silk Road Economic Belt initiative, stating they would act to implement it to promote regional cooperation.

As reported by Sputnik yesterday, the Declaration pointed out that the

“rapidly-changing situation in the world is characterized by geopolitical tensions, increasing the incidence of terrorism, separatism and extremism [which] impact negatively the whole system of international relations.” This international terrorism and extremism, “including religious and other manifestations of it, are now equally a growing threat to all countries of the world and human civilization as a whole.” The SCO calls for “early adoption of a Comprehensive UN Convention on international terrorism.”

Directly addressing the Obama administration’s provocative positioning of a ballistic missile defense system in Europe, the Declaration adds that member states

“reaffirm that the unilateral and unlimited buildup of missile defense systems by one state or group of states without taking into account interests of other countries can be harmful to international and regional security and stability. The Member States are firmly convinced of the inadmissibility of ensuring one’s own security at the expense of others.”

Special reference was made to protecting the “unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability of Syria,” stressing that there is no alternative to a political solution to the crisis, the Iranian news agency FNA reported today.

Addressing the issue of disputes in the South China Sea, the Declaration states that the SCO countries support international law, according to provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, AKI press reported.

“All respective disputes should be settled peacefully on the basis of friendly negotiations and agreements between involved parties, without making them international or without interference from outside,” the document reads. “Thus, the member countries call for full respect for all provisions of the aforementioned Convention as well as of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the approaches to its implementation,” AKI’s press report said.

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