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The Shanghai Five comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Tajikistan. This particular summit had a 5+1 format, with Islam Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan, invited as a guest.

The Shanghai Five leaders discussed a wide range of multilateral partnership problems, implementation of initiatives put forward at previous summits in Shanghai, Moscow, Almaty and Bishkek, issues on the international agenda, and problems of regional security and efforts against terrorism and extremism.

The five countries’ partnership had a positive impact on regional developments, the Russian president said as he was addressing a plenary meeting. The world is paying ever-greater attention to the Shanghai Five. With practical achievements for all to see, many began to regard its work as a tangible contribution to building a multi-polar world, Mr Putin stressed.

Mr Putin warned that global balance could be upset if the United States ventured to develop its national ballistic missile system. He added that he shared the Chinese president’s concern about the idea of a local missile defence that would include Taiwan.

He proposed drafting a package of legal acts on joint efforts against international terrorism for the following Shanghai Five summit.

The heads of state summed up their meeting in a Dushanbe Declaration. The five countries intend to establish a community of people with shared views, based on mutual respect, confidence, equality, voluntary participation and common benefit – the principles on which the declaration rests, the Russian president said.

The summit participants addressed a joint news conference to sum up their meeting. Mr Putin said in a press statement that the Shanghai Five had developed into a Shanghai Forum. Its organisers intended to settle frontier issues in 1996. The range of discussions has since then crossed by far the limits of cross-border partnership, he said by way of explanation why the Five was changing its name to “forum”. Today, its members are discussing joint efforts against terrorism and extremism, and economic partnership issues. The number of organisation members has also changed. The organisation has become a major regional stability factor, and exerts a considerable influence on the international situation.

President Putin said that Russia supported an initiative to appoint coordinators to organise the forum’s work, as well as the idea of prime-ministerial meetings, which had been advanced at the summit.