Leaders of China, Russia and four Central Asian nations Thursday warned against unilateral action in the war on global terror and pledged closer ties as Moscow seeks to counter US influence in its traditional backyard.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) -- which comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- agreed to transform their fledgling six-nation body into a proper international organisation by 2004.

The host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the six leaders agreed on the primacy of the United Nations, in a clear reference to the US-led war in Iraq.

"We have a common stance. There is no alternative to the United Nations as a universal organisation in the system of international relations," he told a press conference after the summit.

A joint statement issued by the participants said the "war against terrorism should be pursued on the basis of international law. You cannot identify it with a war against any religion, country or nationality."

Chinese President Hu Jintao, attending the summit on his first trip abroad since taking over the Chinese leadership in March, reaffirmed Beijing's opposition to the US-led offensive in Iraq.

"The war in Iraq is over but the effects on the international situation have only just begun," he told the gathering.

However, leaders at the summit reaffirmed their committment to the US-led war on extremism, pledging to fight the "terrorism, extremism and separatism" that threatens their volatile region.

Russia is aiming to win back its traditional sphere of influence in Central Asia, dotted with American bases since the US-led war on the Taliban in Afghanistan.

While China and Russia loudly opposed the US-led war in Iraq, all four Central Asian countries in the SCO supported it, and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan hosted US troops for the Afghan war.

Hu said the threat of terrorism remained very real and warned the gathering that "we cannot relax our guard in the face of new threats.

"We have to devote permanent efforts to maintaining stability in the region and to cut off financing for terrorism," he said.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov said the group would cooperate to crack down on international drug trafficking in a bid to shut down global terrorist financing.

The SCO plans to set up a regional anti-terrorist centre in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

Many regional rebel outfits lost their home bases with the fall of Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime in November 2001. But Russia and China continue to frame their fight against Muslim separatists as part of the US-led "war on terror."

Putin said SCO member states would seek to expand their spheres of cooperation, waging a war against poverty and increasing trade cooperation.

The SCO leaders set January 1, 2004, as the deadline for the SCO to function with a permanent Beijing-based secretariat. They confirmed Chinese ambassador to Moscow Zhang Deguang as the group's first secretary general.

They also endorsed arrangements establishing a budget for the SCO and councils of heads of state, heads of governments and foreign ministers. They agreed that the six states' prime ministers will meet again later this year in Tashkent to discuss the budget.

Both China and Russia have taken a keen interest in the strategic region, hoping to exert influence in the area as well as take part in developing its vast oil and gas resources.

CDI Russia Weekly #259 ~ Contents  •  Next