BEIJING, April 25. /TASS/. The format of the "Shanghai Five" meetings and especially the historic meeting of the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Shanghai on April 26, 1996 made a special contribution to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in the future and development of the Eurasian space, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Rashid Alimov told TASS on Monday on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Agreement on Confidence-Building in the Military Field in the Border Area of the "Shanghai Five" countries.

"The Agreement signing did not just launch a new multilateral regional dialogue, but, in fact, also determined a new regional configuration that is based on progressive approaches to the challenges of international cooperation," the SCO Secretary General said. "In addition to the resulting practical steps to optimize the number of the personnel of the armed forces stationed along the border area, as well as ··armaments and military equipment, the sides demonstrated by this document their willingness to unite around a common security concept that is based on the principle of reciprocity and non-confrontation, prevalence of the common interests over individual ones. They renounced the use of military force as a means of settling international conflicts and proclaimed its use solely for the self-defense purposes."

"The choice of this approach by the "Shanghai Five" leaders has shown that they deeply understand the requirements of the new era that center around the urgent need to effectively respond to the emerged global trends, ensuring progressive development of the vast region", he said.