SCO defense ministers' meeting begins in Astana
The meeting of the ministers of defense of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has started in Astana, Kazinform News Agency reports.
As the press service of the Kazakh Defense Ministry informed, the event is held as part of Kazakhstan’s presidency in the SCO. Those attending the meeting are the defense ministers of India, Iraq, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Besides, Secretary General of the SCO, Director of the SCO RATS Executive Committee and Belarusian Minister of Defense were also invited to the meeting.
The SCO was formed based on the agreements on strengthening trust in military sphere and on mutual reduction of armed forces in the border area signed by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Due to an unprecedented nature of these agreements for the Asian space, it was decided to monitor their implementation at the highest level. The mechanism of regular meetings of the leaders of the five countries was named the Shanghai Five. The necessity to transform the Shanghai Five into a regional multilateral structure in various spheres was pointed out in Dushanbe Declaration of the Heads of State of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan as of July 4, 2000. Uzbekistan joined the Shanghai Five in the same year.
The SCO history dates back to June 15, 2001, when in Shanghai, the leaders of six countries took a historical decision to establish the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Declaration on the SCO establishment states that the cooperation within the new organization will promote more effective joint use of opportunities and countering new threats and challenges amid dynamic development of the processes of formation of political multipolarity, economic and information globalization in the 21st century. It is clearly stated that the SCO adheres to the principle of openness, and is ready to develop dialogue, contacts and cooperation in any formats with other states and corresponding international and regional organizations.
The SCO Charter was signed at the summit in Saint Petersburg on June 7, 2002. The Charter is a basic document of the Organization which entered into force on September 2003. On February 1, 2013, it was registered at the UN Secretariat. The international-legal framework of the Organization includes more than 25 agreements and legal documents such as the Convention on Immunities and Privileges of the SCO (registered at the UN Secretariat on January 4, 2010), Agreement on procedure for forming and budget implementation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Agreement on establishment of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (signed simultaneously with the Charter), provisions on various structures of the SCO, personnel of the Organization, financial provisions and regulations of the SCO.
