KABUL - President Hamid Karzai assured the 12th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit that concluded in Beijing on Thursday that Afghanistan's soil would not be used against any regional country.
At the important regional meeting, participants exchanged views on the Afghanistan conflict and the Iranian nuclear issue. The SCO decided to grant Afghanistan observer status and accept Turkey as a dialogue partner.
Member states adopted 10 agreements, including a declaration on building a region with lasting peace and common prosperity, a strategic plan for medium-term development .
The declaration includes SCO regulations on political and diplomatic measures and mechanisms of response to events jeopardizing regional peace, security and stability.
Karzai, who led a high-level ministerial delegation at the summit, said Afghanistan hoped the soil of its neighbors and regional countries would not be used against it.
"Peace in Afghanistan and its neighbors guarantees peace and prosperity in the entire region," Karzai told the gathering. He sought regional support for stemming terrorism, insisting that Afghanistan would try to strengthen peace in the region.
Referring to the war against terrorism and the problems facing his country, Karzai said the latest incidents showed the tragedy of Afghans was not confined to the borders of their country.
"Knowing this fact, I hope after this summit, member states will closely work with Afghanistan and Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and extremism," Karzai was quoting as saying in a statement from his office.
He expressed hope that SCO member states would come up with a comprehensive strategy on terrorism to support Afghanistan and Pakistan.
China is expected to sign a series of strategic agreements that will raise its profile with Afghanistan, following a decade in which Beijing stayed largely on the sidelines of the US-led war on Taliban.
Beijing regards the SCO as a platform for its battle against separatism in the western areas of Xinjiang region.
In the decade since the organization was established in 2001, member states have carried out various military and counterterrorism drills, and held regular meetings of foreign affairs, defense and law enforcement officials.
SCO Secretary-General MuratbekImanaliev and officials from the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure of the SCO (RATS), the United Nations, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Euroasian Economic Community and Collective Security Treaty Organization also attended the summit.The 2013 SCO summit will be held in Kyrgyzstan. (Pajhwok)