India and Pakistan plan to join SCO
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06 April 2017
Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev has received heads of delegations that arrived in Astana for the 12th Meeting of the Secretaries of SCO Security Councils today, Kazinform has learned from the Akorda’s press service.
In his opening remarks Nursultan Nazarbayev greeted participants of the meeting, noting the importance of holding such event on the threshold of the SCO Summit in Astana this June.
“We share the grief of Russian people in connection with the recent tragedy in Saint Petersburg. Terrorism and extremism have no boundaries, risks and threats still remain. In this light, the heads of state attach great importance to the work done by secretaries of the Security Councils,” President Nazarbayev said at the onset of the meetings.
The Kazakh President drew attention of those present to the importance of strengthening existing mechanisms of cooperation and the SCO regulatory framework.
Nursultan Nazarbayev praised positive results of the work done by the SCO member states to cement economic and political ties.
Additionally, the Head of State dwelled on the specific tasks the organization faces at the moment: “At the moment we are considering the SCO Convention on counter-extremism and the SCO Statements on joint efforts to counter international terrorism. It is necessary to approve these documents within a short time,” Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed.
President Nazarbayev announced that India and Pakistan will join the organization as full-fledged members at the upcoming SCO Summit. The Astana Summit is believed to give an additional impulse to strengthening cooperation in Asia.
“It is crucial to expand SCO cooperation with international and regional structures – UN, CSTO, CICA. We believe it will have an impact on further development of the organization,” the Kazakh leader stressed.
The Head of State emphasized that Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2017-2018 greatly contributes to strengthening of international peace and security, especially in terms of the Syrian conflict settlement.
Attending the meeting in the Akorda presidential residence were the Secretaries of the SCO Security Councils of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, the SCO Secretary General, the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure and the Minister of Public security of China.
