Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 7 April, the regular 39th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO RATS) was held in Tashkent under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan.

It was attended by delegations from the competent authorities of India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS.

The event began with the planting of trees by the heads of delegations in the garden of the SCO RATS. The ceremony symbolized friendship, good neighborliness and common aspirations of the member countries of the organization on the path to development and prosperity.

During the meeting, the parties reviewed the state of regional security, discussed the current situation in the field of countering terrorism, separatism and extremism in the SCO space, exchanged views on the level of interaction between the competent authorities of the SCO member states, identified joint measures to respond to modern security challenges and threats from international terrorist organizations.

The meeting approved the Report of the SCO RATS Council to the Council of Heads of SCO Member States on activities in 2022. Information on the progress of the implementation in 2022 of the Program of Cooperation of the SCO Member States in Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism for 2022-2024 was considered. A positive assessment was given to the activities of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS for the past period.

A decision was made to conduct a joint information operation to prevent the use of the Internet for terrorist, separatist and extremist purposes.

It was agreed to hold the next joint anti-terrorist exercise of the competent authorities of the SCO member states "Eurasia - Antiterror - 2023" in Kyrgyzstan in 2023, the 9th meeting of the heads of border services of the competent authorities of the SCO member states and the Ninth International Scientific and Practical Conference of the SCO RATS.

A draft Memorandum of Cooperation between the SCO RATS and the Antiterrorist Center of the CIS Member States was approved.

As part of the meeting, the representative of Pakistan, Aisha Farooqi, was awarded the title of "Honorary Representative of the SCO Member State in the Council of the SCO RATS".

A number of employees of the competent authorities of the SCO member states and officials of the SCO RATS Executive Committee were awarded for their personal contribution to the development of the activities of the SCO RATS and the strengthening of interaction between the competent authorities of the SCO member states.

As a result of the meeting, decisions were made on issues of organizational, personnel and financial support for the activities of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS, and an agreement was reached to hold the next meeting of the Council of the SCO RATS in Kazakhstan.

The 38th meeting of the SCO RATS Council was held on 14 October 2022 in New Delhi under the chairmanship of India.