On 27 September 2019, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov had a meeting with Under-Secretary-General of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Vladimir Voronkov.
The SCO Secretary-General pointed out that the fight against terrorism has always been one of the SCO's priorities. He said that the SCO attached great value to strengthening ties with the UNOCT within the framework of the joint implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
Vladimir Norov noted that the SCO Secretariat had prepared a draft concept for the Third High-Level Special Event, to be held jointly with the UN, on preventing the merger of international terrorism with the drug business and other types of transnational organised crime. He added that the draft would be forwarded for consideration by the UNOCT.
Vladimir Voronkov said that cooperation between the SCO and the UNOCT had gathered momentum and that it had become a good tradition to hold joint events on counter-terrorism. He expressed a high opinion of the SCO Secretary-General's speech at the UN Security Council debates held on 25 September 2019, saying that the speech was fully in line with the current global counter-terrorism agenda. The Under-Secretary-General noted that work was underway on a memorandum of understanding between the UNOCT and Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
The UNOCT chief pointed out that one of the office's priorities was the reintegration of people returning from the zones of armed conflicts. He added in this context that Central Asian countries had accumulated considerable positive experience in this sphere and the exchange of such experience could be useful for countries in other parts of the world, including the European Union.
The meeting was held in a business-like and constructive atmosphere. The sides have agreed to maintain a working relationship.