New Delhi: India and other member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) have supported an initiative of China to organise a joint border operation, “Solidarity-2023”, for the border agencies of these countries next year, according to an official statement issued on Friday.
A statement to this effect was made by Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Pankaj Kumar Singh at the conclusion of the eighth meeting of the heads of border authorities of the competent bodies of the SCO member states, which was held in Delhi.
The daylong meeting was held under the chairmanship of India, which assumed the chair of SCO-RATS on October 28 last year for a one-year period.
Singh was accompanied by the Director of SCO-RATS (the regional anti-terrorist structure of the SCO), Mirzaev Ruslan Erkinovich, when he made the statement.
The BSF, with about 2.65 lakh personnel in its ranks, is India’s largest frontier-guarding force and is primarily tasked with guarding the international boundaries with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“The participants exchanged information reflecting assessments of the situation on the state borders of the SCO member states, trends and forecasts of its development.
“The results of the joint border operation, ‘Solidarity-2019-2021’, carried out in 2021 by the border services of the competent authorities of the SCO member states, were discussed and highly appreciated,” the statement said.
It said the plan for the preparations and conduct of the joint border operation this year — “Friendship Border – 2022” — was “reviewed and approved”.
“They (the member countries) supported the initiative of the People’s Republic of China to conduct in 2023, under its organising role, a joint border operation of the border services of the competent authorities of the SCO member states, ‘Solidarity-2023’,” it said.
The member countries also “approved” the work plan of the group of experts of the border services of the competent authorities for 2023, it said.
They also “discussed proposals on the place and timing of the next meeting of the heads of border services of the competent authorities of the SCO member states”.
“They noted that the professional exchange of views and the development of common positions on countering new challenges and threats at the borders of the organisation will contribute to the further development of cooperation between the border services of the competent authorities of the SCO member states, strengthening security and confidence at the borders,” the statement said.
It concluded saying the meeting was held “in a professional and constructive atmosphere”.
Representatives of the border services of the competent authorities of Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Executive Committee of the RATS attended the meeting, according to the statement.
The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc, and has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.
The member states of the SCO are Russia, China, India, Pakistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan is among the observer states of the SCO.
