President Rahmon: Afghanistan faces ordeal, expects SCO support
BISHKEK. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is capable of an efficient response to regional security threats, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said at the SCO Bishkek summit on Friday.
"In the years of its existence the SCO has developed into an efficient organization with expertise sufficient for responding to threats and challenges," he said.
"The new threats and challenges that appear in our changing world require even more creative and efficient solutions," he added.
The president called for the soonest possible drafting of a SCO development strategy for the period until 2025, more energetic suppression of terrorism, extremism and separatism and improved anti-drug efforts, "which are a pressing concern."
Rahmon said that the SCO countries should step up cooperation on anti-narcotic operations and coordinate their efforts to assist the development of Afghanistan. "Our friend, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is facing a period of great challenges in 2014 and awaits our support," Rahmon said.
"We must render moral and material support to Afghanistan at this crucial stage of its history," the Tajik president said.
