Summit will focus on curbing terrorism and promoting economic co-operation
After weathering political turbulence in two member states, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation will underline its pledge to fight terrorism and promote economic co-operation at a summit next month, Secretary-General Zhang Deguang said.
The fledgling regional group marked its fourth anniversary on Wednesday and - following political upheaval in Kyrgyzstan and street riots in Uzbekistan - world attention will be focused on the summit to gauge the group's future.
The leaders of the group's member states - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - will meet in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, on July 5 and endorse initiatives to strengthen co-operation.
'The summit will be an important milestone in the development of the organisation,' Mr Zhang said. The social and political turmoil this spring should not mask the fact that these Central Asian countries had made strides in social and economic reforms since becoming independent, he said.
That progress, however, would be in peril if those countries or their neighbours continued to be rocked by instability and violence.
