BISHKEK, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) signed 16 cooperation agreements to increase interaction within the organization after a summit was convened here on Friday under the chairmanship of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
The meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Secretary General of the CIS Executive Committee Sergei Lebedev.
The leaders held meetings in restricted and expanded formats, during which they exchanged views on current issues of interaction within the CIS.
Following the summit, leaders of the CIS members signed 16 cooperation documents, four of which are on cooperation in the field of digital technologies, on the principles of interstate relations in a multipolar world, on the protection of human rights, and on the support and promotion of the Russian language as a language of interethnic communication.
Two documents were also signed related to the security sector, in particular, the agreement on the formation of the international center for assessing the risks of legalization (laundering) proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism and on the formation of the CIS coordination council in the field of forensic activities.
The chairmanship of the CIS in 2024 will be moved to Russia and the next CIS summit will be held in Moscow on Oct. 8, 2024.
Founded in 1991 as a regional organization for former Soviet republics, the CIS comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Ukraine and Turkmenistan are associate members. ■
