Interview
with Mr. Rashid Alimov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the Republic of Tajikistan to the People’s Republic of China
for China Daily
June 06, 2006
Question: How do you evaluate the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the past five years? Do you think it really helps to consolidate the cooperation among the member states in security and economy?
Answer: Today it is difficult to imagine the political map of the world without SCO. The time has confirmed vital importance and necessity of creation of the Organization. Complicated and contradictory events in the world and in the Central Asia in particular, which took place in the past five years, were real test for firmness and viability of SCO. During that time the Organization has recommended itself as one of the effective, promising, important and essential multilateral instruments of interaction which promotes? strengthening climate of trust and predictability, good-neighborliness, constructive search for mutually acceptable approaches to solve problems of regional security.
Now we can say that SCO in spite of its youth showed its “character”, became an important factor and a real player in the international scene and is the most dynamic international organization.
Security and economy are the two “wheels” of our Organization. From the very beginning, cooperation in these two fields was the priority for the member states. We expect that decisions, which would be made during the upcoming SCO summit in Shanghai, would help to further consolidate the cooperation among the member states in security and economy.
Question: What is the main topic to be addressed in the upcoming SCO summit? For your country’s part, what do you think is the main issue to be settled among SCO members?
Answer: Detailed answers to this question we will receive very soon, when leaders of SCO member states will gather in Shanghai, where they will make the thorough assessment not only to SCO activities of five years, but will determine the new vectors of its advancing development. At same time, it is evident that the solving wide range of problems, which are concerned with maintaining peace and stability in the region and sustainable economic growth, will remain the priority task for the near future.
Tajikistan stood at the beginnings of Organization’s origin and by right could be considered as its “founding father”. As rightly noted President Emomali Rahmonov, “SCO has opened for the Republic of Tajikistan new perspective directions of multilateral cooperation, first of all, in the fields of security and economy and in the cultural and humanitarian fields as well”. In other words, for Tajikistan, as well as for all region of the Central Asia, with the advent of SCO the level of mutual trust and mutual understanding, respect to diversity of cultures has noticeably grown, the serious impulse was given to the multilateral economic cooperation.
Question: In which direction do you think the SCO should go in the future development? The SCO is considered as an open organization, do you think it needs increasing members to expand its influence?
Answer: SCO plays important role in securing peace and stability, cooperation, mutual understanding and mutual trust not only in the region. If we speak figuratively, “the Shanghai spirit” has penetrated into all pores of the international cooperation. It is for benefit of all who are sincerely interested in securing peace and stability, sustainable economic growth.
Now SCO has six permanent members and four with an observatory state. It established the mechanism of “Contact group” with Afghanistan. Besides, SCO officially interacts with several regional and international organizations. The current scope of the Organization allows it to fully execute its tasks with accordance to its founding documents.
Question: Some countries such as Iran, Belarus are reported to want to have full membership from an observatory state, do you think it is possible for this issue to be discussed at the summit?
Answer: At present, it is early to discuss the issue of Organization’s expansion by affiliating new countries as the permanent members. The reason is clear. SCO did not work out so far the mechanism, which allows it to consider this issue. At any case any country who wants to join SCO should fully accept all aims and principles of the Organization which are fixed in its founding documents and first of all in the Charter.
Question: Security is an important field that the SCO members seek to cooperate, so what do you suggest for their alliance in fighting against international terrorism?
Answer: All of us are witnesses of the fact that attempts to destabilize the situation in the region and to impose the export formulas of development to our societies are not ending. To stop the destructive forces, which nurture the new destructive plans in the Eurasian geopolitical area, is could be possible only by joint efforts. Fight against “three evils” and illegal circulation of narcotics will keep its actuality for a long time. Tajikistan as President Emomali Rahmonov stated it repeatedly would continue in full measure to discharge its obligations in compliance with the Shanghai Convention on fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism. |
