Leaders of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) agreed to strengthen their fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism at a summit meeting Tuesday.

The group also called for the US-led anti-terrorist coalition in Afghanistan to set a timeframe for withdrawing its forces from SCO member states.

In a joint declaration, presidents of the six member-states - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - pledged to take "comprehensive and effective" action to protect their territories, population and key public facilities and infrastructures from the "destructive impact" of new threats.

"The three forces - terrorism, separatism and extremism - pose a severe threat to the member states and the region," said President Hu Jintao at the summit.

"We have to make every effort to step up security co-operation or else all our talk about stability will be pointless."

He called for the swift sharing of information in response to emergencies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the fight against terrorism and consolidation of peace and stability in Central Asia "a vital problem which the SCO members and leaders must assign priority to."

"New regional threats are of a trans-border nature ... There are people who place orders and execute them. Our task is to find them and render them harmless and also to prevent their activity," he added

A series of measures were adopted for improving the operation of the regional organization, including joint planning and implementation of anti-terrorist activities, relevant personnel training and the cutting of funding to groups behind the three forces.

The joint declaration also called for a timetable for the US-led anti-terror coalition troops to withdraw from the region.

"We support and will support the international coalition, which is carrying out an anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan," the declaration said.

"As the active military phase in the anti-terror operation in Afghanistan is nearing completion, the SCO would like the coalition's members to decide on the deadline for the use of the temporary infrastructure and for their military contingents' presence in those countries," the declaration continued.

Both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan host US bases whose troops are involved in the Afghanistan operation.

Founded in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO consists of six member states that cover an area of over 30 million square kilometres, about three-fifths of Eurasia, and are home to around 1.5 billion people - about a quarter of the world's population.

Apart from forming a network against the "three forces" in the region, heads of member states also pledged to seek more intensive development.

Zhang Deguang, the SCO executive secretary, described the SCO collaboration in security and economy and trade as "two wheels of a chariot."

Economic and trade co-operation will bear even more significance in the future, he said, echoing the declaration that co-operation in the economic sector serves as the material foundation and guarantee for SCO's smooth development.

Tuesday's summit also added Iran, India and Pakistan as observer nations.

They cited the SCO as one of the most effective regional organizations. "SCO today has the potential and the resolve to contribute in a significant manner to the harmonious and sustained development of a large part of the Asian continent," said Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Source: China Daily