SHANGHAI, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - Leaders from five former Soviet nations and China signed a raft of documents at a regional security group's summit Thursday focusing on making the body more effective and anti-terrorism.
The presidents of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - approved new regulations on the body's secretariat and changed the title of the group's head to reflect its heightened role.
In the run-up to the meeting, Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to Russia's president, said the new Regulations increased the role of the secretariat, which will coordinate and provide information and analytical, legal, financial and organizational support for the SCO's work and supervise the implementation of the organization's decisions.
The decision to change the title of the organization's head from the executive secretary to the secretary general is expected to give a new impetus to the SCO's work and make its bodies more effective in light of the increasingly responsible objectives, Prikhodko said.
The organization was originally established in 2001 to tackle security issues and confidence-building measures, but has since evolved into a body handling economics, transportation, culture and disaster relief.
The SCO leaders also adopted a Statement on international information security and approved a program of cooperation in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism in 2007-2009.
The SCO leaders also signed an agreement on the procedure for holding joint anti-terrorism exercises in SCO member states.
The leaders of Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia, which currently have observer status in the group but have expressed interest in becoming full members, are also attending this year's summit, held in the organization's Chinese hometown.
