The member states welcome the just announced ceasefire in Afghanistan, SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov told a TASS correspondent.
"The SCO summit welcomed the just announced ceasefire in Afghanistan," Mr Alimov said. "I think a lull in bloodshed during the days that are held sacred by the Muslim Ummah will be a good incentive for everyone and a motive to think anew about Afghanistan's peaceful future. All of us hope that the ceasefire will not be short-lived and that it will be a catalyst in a peace process. Peace and stability will open the door to prosperity for the long-suffering Afghan people," he said, adding that Afghanistan had been a SCO observer state since 2012 and that developments there were invariably in the organisation's focus.
"Afghanistan was certainly among the topics discussed at the SCO summit," he said. Specifically, the member states expressed support for the efforts made by the Afghan government and Afghan people to promote security together with economic development and to fight terrorism, extremism and drug crime.
"The SCO leaders believe that peace and stability in Afghanistan as well as its economic revival will contribute to security and stable development in the region as a whole. In this context, they stressed that there was no alternative to a settlement in Afghanistan through political dialogue and an inclusive peace process to be promoted by the Afghans themselves and under Afghan guidance. The SCO calls for increased cooperation to stabilise and develop the country with the central coordinating role of the United Nations," he said.
The participants in the summit also noted the SCO's practical steps on the Afghan trek. Specifically, the relaunch of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group (11 October 2017, Moscow; 28 May 2018, Beijing) is meant to facilitate more effective operations of the dialogue and cooperation mechanisms geared to the Afghan settlement, including the Moscow consultations format. With this aim in view, the Protocol between the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group was signed at the summit.