Editor's note: Vladimir Petrovskiy is a chief research fellow at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, and also Full Member, Russian Academy of Military Science. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN

The landmark events of recent days, the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek and the Fifth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Dushanbe, have a key common feature.

They demonstrate the integral relationship between regional security and sustainable development, the two most essential imperatives for Eurasia and the Asia Pacific.

The summit in Bishkek showed that the SCO, originally conceived as a specific mechanism for solving border issues, has long since grown into a more comprehensive role, becoming a full-fledged regional international organization. Its medium-term development strategy until 2025 implies cooperation in three main areas: opposition to the “three evils” forces (terrorism, separatism, extremism), trade, economic and humanitarian assistance.

The first has received the most development over the past years, while according to the general perception of SCO member countries, financial-investment and trade cooperation is still lagging. Of all the documents signed earlier within the framework of the SCO, only nine percent deal with economic issues.

The participants of the Bishkek summit tried to rectify this situation – out of the 22 documents signed at the summit, many relate to just this area. Although there are no breakthroughs, all of them are important, as they give impetus to concrete, practical work.

Discussed, for example, is the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which is designed to boost the development of trade and mutual growth of investments.

The key participants, Moscow and Beijing, agreed on controversial issues, and now there are no political or financial obstacles to start the largest economic project of the SCO.

To increase its economic potential, the organization should speed up the creation of the Development Fund and the SCO Development Bank. This issue has been under discussion for 15 years, but there is no tangible result yet.

In the Bishkek Declaration, the specifics on this issue are also few, but experts hope that during the Russian presidency of the SCO, which begins after the summit in Bishkek, this issue will finally be resolved.

Many of those who gathered in Bishkek, immediately after the summit, went to Dushanbe, to the Fifth CICA Conference. It was attended by delegations from 27 member countries, as well as 13 observers, including representatives of international organizations.

The final document of the conference states that the CICA, as a critical multilateral cooperation mechanism in the region, should strengthen multilateral dialogue and cooperation, as well as play a more significant role in promoting equal and indivisible security and joint development.

The CICA will continue to promote the establishment of a representative, fair and sustainable multilateral model of international relations, deepen confidence-building measures, hold consultations, strengthen joint efforts for common gain, and develop a dialogue on a regional security architecture that should be open, inclusive and based on the generally accepted principles of international security and the UN Charter.

The Dushanbe summit participants specifically noted that since China assumed the function of the chair of the meeting in May 2014 (then the Chinese chairship was extended for another 4 years and is now being transferred to Tajikistan), China has played an essential role in advancing the CICA process to strengthen, adopt and implement confidence-building measures.

In 2014, at the CICA summit in Shanghai, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the idea of ​​a concept of universal, integrated, cooperative and sustainable security in Asia, which received the support of CICA members and was actively discussed by them at the current meeting.

In Dushanbe, as in Bishkek, security and development issues were discussed in conjunction. As Xi accurately said about this, "development is the basis of security, and security is a condition for development."

By the way, the Russian side, as the coordinator of the economic dimension of the CICA, attaches particular importance to the work in this area. In his speech at the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled that it was on the Russian initiative that the Business Council was created in 2015 within the framework of the conference, and a memorandum on cooperation between small and medium enterprises was prepared for the current summit.

Russia is in favor of increasing mutual trade, the rejection of protectionism, illegitimate sanctions, politically motivated restrictions and barriers. It is committed to the comprehensive deepening of investment cooperation, the expansion of industrial partnership based on universal rules of the WTO on the principles of equality, respect and consideration for the interests of each other.

Both summits convincingly demonstrated that multilateral dialogue and consultations in the format of the SCO and CICA are necessary conditions for ensuring security, stability and sustainable development of the countries of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific in today's turbulent world.

China and Russia, the founders and active participants of these multilateral negotiation and consultation mechanisms, act as guarantors of their effective work and development prospects.

(Cover: Leaders or representatives of member countries of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) pose for a group photo with representatives of observer states and relevant international and regional organizations in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, June 15, 2019. /Xinhua Photo)

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