UWED students got acquainted with the activities of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Since its establishment, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (RATS) has made a significant contribution to the development of the Organization, has become its bearing support and coordinating center for the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism at the regional and global levels. On June 7, 2002, during a meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO Member States in St. Petersburg, an Agreement was signed on the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, which was established as a permanent body of the SCO with headquarters in Tashkent for coordination and interaction of the competent authorities of the SCO countries in the fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism.

And every year the international authority of the RATS grows, which has become a worthy example of multilateral cooperation in achieving significant success in the field of security. With this in mind, in cooperation with the SCO People’s Diplomacy Center in Uzbekistan, a meeting was organized on July 21 in the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS for students of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy.

Opening the event, the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS Ruslan Mirzaev familiarized with the stages of formation, the organizational and legal basis, as well as with the basic principles and directions of its activities.

In turn, the director of the SCO Center Kabuljon Sabirov stressed that the main purpose of organizing a meeting of students of Tashkent universities with representatives of the SCO RATS is to promote ideas about the wider use of public diplomacy tools in preventing the spread of ideas of extremism and terrorism, forming a sense of patriotism and loyalty to their land among young people, strengthening the harmony of good neighborliness, tolerance, nationalities and religion. He also noted that people’s diplomacy is an effective tool for countering various threats to global security and the basis of international cooperation in all spheres – from science and entrepreneurship to cultural and humanitarian exchange in various fields.

During the meeting, the participants exchanged views on new challenges and threats in the field of security related to countering and eradicating extremism and terrorism, not only among young people, but also in society as a whole. R. Mirzayev gave detailed answers to questions about the situation in the region, including the topics of Afghanistan, countering threats in cyberspace, fighting with drug trafficking, terrorism, as well as on the interaction of the SCO countries in the international legal sphere.

In conclusion, the participants of the meeting expressed sincere gratitude to the leadership of the IC RATS and the SCO Center for People’s Diplomacy for organizing this event, noting that its holding gave them an incentive to study the activities of the Shanghai Structure in more depth and, in general, to the topic of promoting the efforts of the Organization’s countries in ensuring international security, maintaining stability and peace on earth. The youth expressed keen interest in holding such events in the future.