Top legislators of the six member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) highly praised the group's role in safeguarding regional and international peace and stability as they met in Moscow Tuesday for the first time.

In a joint statement issued after their meeting, parliament speakers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, said they were confident that the upcoming summit of the SCO heads of state in Shanghai next month "will give a fresh impetus to the achievements of practical results in political, economic, humanitarian and security spheres," the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The heads of state from the six member countries are expected to meet in Shanghai on June 15 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of SCO's establishment.

The participants of the meeting noted that meetings of the SCO parliament speakers would become a main form of inter-parliamentary cooperation.

Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house) Sergei Mironov said the SCO had responded actively to new threats and challenges since its establishment in 2001 and by cooperating closely with its members, the group has helped safeguard regional security and stability.

The SCO has also contributed to establishing a multi-polar world and to keeping the global strategic balance, Mironov added.

According to Chairman of the Russian State Duma (the lower house) Boris Gryzlov, the SCO has played an important role in fighting terrorism and allaying regional tensions.

Contrary to resorting to force in some conflicting areas, the SCO upholds the peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts with mutual respect, Gryzlov said.

Speaker of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan Marat Sultanov said the SCO had promoted mutual trust and cooperation among countries in the region and had achieved significant accomplishment in various fields, especially in security.

Kyrgyzstan's lawmakers "will try to make a notable contribution to the development of the organization to remove barriers and eliminate disagreements," he said.

According to SCO Executive Secretary Zhang Deguang, meetings of the SCO parliament speakers "give a chance to realize one more time the dynamic progressive development of a new-type organization.... stipulated in the charter and other documents for the benefit of the peoples and the whole region."

He believed that the SCO "has taken a worthy place in the modern system of international relations and sets an example of the geo-political integration model."

Chairman of the Kazakh Senate Nurtai Abykayev invited his counterparts to the next meeting in Astana.

Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Wu Bangguo, Speaker of the Upper House of the Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan Makhmadsaid Ubaidullayev and Speaker of Uzbekistan's Legislature Chamber Erkin Khalilov also attended the meeting.

The SCO was established in Shanghai in 2001.

Source: Xinhua