Russia considers it important to hold a regular meeting of the SCO - Afghanistan contact group as soon as such an opportunity arises, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told at opening a meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers held in a videoconference format.
As the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed, it is impossible for Afghanistan to enter the path of peaceful development without the participation of regional states, including within the framework of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan and other inclusive mechanisms.
"It is necessary to promote interaction through the SCO - Afghanistan contact group. In particular, we consider it important to hold its next meeting as soon as possible," Lavrov said, adding that the Russian side proposed to focus its work on the implementation of the road map, which was adopted at the Bishkek summit in June last year.
The SCO-Afghanistan contact group was established in 2005. Its activities were frozen in early 2009 and resumed only in October 2017. The Council of heads of SCO member states in June 2019 in Bishkek adopted the roadmap for further actions of the SCO - Afghanistan contact group.
Separately, Sergey Lavrov raised the issue of the SCO's anti-terrorist activities. Thus, according to the Russian Foreign Minister, it is necessary to expand the functions of the Regional anti-terrorist structure of the Organization.
"We consider it a priority to expand the functional capabilities of the SCO Regional anti-terrorist structure. We expect member states' views on the Russian draft of the main elements for creating a universal center for countering security challenges and threats on the basis of the Regional anti - terrorist structure," the Minister said, adding that the Russian side supported Tajikistan's initiative to open the SCO anti-drug center in Dushanbe, which would be part of the updated Regional anti-terrorist structure.
The head of the Russian diplomatic service also called for a decision to be made at the next summit of the organization in St. Petersburg to prepare proposals for ensuring security for the next summit, taking into account specific initiatives of the SCO member states.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"