MOSCOW, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Top legislators of the six
member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) pledged here on
Tuesday to further promote cooperation in various fields, especially cooperation
between legislatures within the group.
The commitment was made in a joint statement issued
after SCO's first speakers' meeting, attended by Chairman of the Kazakh Senate
Nurtai Abykayev, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's
Congress (NPC) Wu Bangguo, Speaker of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan Marat
Sultanov, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house) Sergei
Mironov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma (the lower house) Boris Gryzlov,
Speaker of the Upper House of the Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan Makhmad said
Ubaidullayev and Speaker of Uzbekistan's Legislature Chamber Erkin Khalilov.
Highlighting SCO's principles of mutual trust, mutual
benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and aspiration
for common development, participants of the meeting pledged in the statement to
support efforts of SCO's member states and governments to promote continued
development of the group, safeguard regional peace and stability and enhance
economic cooperation.
Inter-parliamentary cooperation constitutes an
important part of the cooperation within the group, the statement said, adding
that the legislatures will play a more active role in providing legal safeguards
for cooperation among member states in all fields.
The respective legislatures will enhance exchanges in
lawmaking experience and legal information, coordinate member states' laws in a
timely and balanced way and speed up ratification of SCO-related agreements, the
statement said.
The participants also reiterated that the
legislatures would provide legal support to aid cooperation in security,
economy, culture and society among member states, the statement said.
Ways to strengthen the inter-parliamentary
cooperation include regular meetings of top legislators of the member states and
representative consultations among specialized committees, the statement added.
The statement also reviewed the achievements
accomplished since the group's establishment five years ago. These list
safeguarding peace, stability and security of Middle Asia, fighting terrorism,
separatism, extremism, drug and weapons smuggling and over-the-border crimes.
Developing cooperation among members' economies, science and technology, culture
and education, improving peoples' living standards and addressing illegal
immigration were also included in the document.
The SCO has also contributed to strengthening
political cooperation and promoting coordination and consultation in dealing
with significant international and regional issues, the statement added.
The statement came just weeks before the heads of
state from the six member states, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are expected to meet in Shanghai on June 15 to
celebrate the fifth anniversary of SCO's establishment.
The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001,
with a view to promoting regional security and fighting terrorism.
The SCO has accepted Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and
India as observers.
The participants expressed their belief that the
summit would strengthen the group's achievements in politics, economy, culture
and security, according to the statement.
The summit will also contribute to bringing
multilateral cooperation between the member states to a higher level, and to
further promoting the SCO's development, the statement said.
This is the first time the top legislators from the
six SCO member states have met.
The meeting comes as Chinese top legislator Wu
Bangguo wraps up his four-nation tour, the last leg being Russia. Wu has already
visited Romania, Moldova and Greece. Enditem
