SCO potential to cooperate in security field to further develop with expansion

BEIJING: China on Monday hoped that with the expansion of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the potential of the organization to cooperate in the security field will be further developed.

“We hope and believe that with the expansion of the SCO, the potential of the organization to cooperate in the security field will be further developed,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson, Lu Kang told reporters during his regular briefing while commenting on the two-day meeting of the of Security Council Secretaries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which began after its enlargement here on Monday.

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi will attend and chair the two-day meeting. Lu Kang pointed out that this is the first meeting of the Security Council Secretaries after the expansion of the SCO.

National Security Advisor of Pakistan, Nasser Khan Janjua and Deputy National Security Adviser of India, Rajinder Khanna are participating in the meeting after both Pakistan and India were granted a full-member status of the SCO last year.

The spokesperson expressed the confidence that the cooperation in the security field will achieve even more results. He informed that the Chinese leaders will meet with the security secretary of the SCO member countries.

Regarding the cooperation of the SCO member states in the security field, he said, “We all know that the international situation has undergone profound changes. The common threats and challenges faced by the SCO member states are also increasing which need SCO to agglomerate consensus and common ground.

The main challenges include: first, how to maintain peace, security and stability in the region, and second, combat the terrorist forces in the region and combat transnational crimes including drug trafficking, he added.

The meeting of the of Security Council Secretaries of the SCO is likely to exchange views on the regional security situation, cooperation on combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, drugs trafficking and cross-border organized crimes, and international information security.

Presidential Aide and Secretary of National Security Council of Kazakhstan Nurlan Ermekbaev, Secretary of the National Security Council of Kyrgyzstan Damir Sagynbayev, Secretary of the National Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the National Security Council of Tajikistan Abdurahim Kahorov, Secretary of the National Security Council of Uzbekistan Makhmudov Victor Vladimirovich, SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov, and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure Yevgeniy Sysoyev are also attending the meeting.

It is the first SCO National Security Council Secretaries' meeting after the SCO enlargement and its primary task is to prepare for the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council or the Qingdao Summit for short next month, on the political and security fronts.