CSTO, SCO to step up cooperation against terrorism, extremism

MOSCOW. January 21. KAZINFORM Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Nikolai Bordyuzha met with Zhang Xinfeng, Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang in Moscow, BelTA learned from CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zaynetdinov.

The parties exchanged views on the assessment of the situation in the zones of shared responsibility and spoke in favor of enhancing the cooperation to combat international terrorism, extremism, trafficking of drugs, weapons and cross-border crime, and use of the Internet for criminal purposes. The CSTO Secretary General noted that the problems addressed by the CSTO and SCO in these areas are similar, as the four countries, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, are the members of both organizations.

Nikolai Bordyuzha also stressed that the CSTO and SCO need to unite the efforts to address common problems. These include the future development of the situation in Afghanistan. "We are concerned whether numerous armed groups of Islamic extremists could become a threat to the security of our states," said Nikolai Bordyuzha. In that connection, it was suggested that experts of the SCO RATS should study the new draft list of organizations recognized as terrorist and extremist in the CSTO. "I think it would be useful to organize a joint work on developing common approaches to counteracting the activities of these organizations in the areas of shared responsibility of the CSTO and the SCO," said Nikolai Bordyuzha, BelTA reports. During the meeting, the parties discussed the issues of cooperation and exchange of information between the CSTO Secretariat and the SCO RATS within the framework of the protocol of cooperation signed on 14 June 2011.