MINSK, 23 August (BelTA) – The instruments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), one of Asia's most influential organizations, should be used to address the Afghanistan issue, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at an extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) on 23 August, BelTA has learned.
“Almost all SCO members are located around Afghanistan. Their global interests lie there, at least, those of China, Russia, India and Pakistan. “It is necessary to strengthen interaction between the CSTO and the SCO by means of the summits of the two organizations due in Dushanbe on 16-17 September this year,” the head of state said.
He believes that after a thorough analysis of this issue, it will be possible to hold a joint meeting to discuss the political settlement of the Afghan conflict: “If the SCO members want to discuss the issue today, it will be good. If not, we will just voice our position. And then the ball will be on their court. I think we will be able to make very serious progress here.”
“It will be impossible not to reckon with the position of the CSTO and the SCO. The position of the SCO/CSTO will even be more important than the position of the Western coalition,” the Belarusian leader is sure.
At the end of his speech, Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that despite all the shortcomings in the CSTO, the organization has developed all the necessary plans and signed documents, and therefore there are enough tools for making and implementing decisions. “We will have three more weeks to work them out in the run-up to the Dushanbe summit,” the head of state added.
