SCO leaders call for dialog in settling the South Ossetian issue

The leaders of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) unanimously agreed on Thursday that the use of force is not an acceptable course of action for settling international conflicts.

A comprehensive solution can only be found through a method of negotiation which involves all parties and takes into account everybody's interests, the leaders said, according to China Daily.

At the end of the summit, the statesmen signed a joint declaration saying that "attempts to strengthen a country's security at the expense of others' was not conducive to maintaining security and stability across the globe," China Daily writes. The declaration also called for respect for the concept of "territorial integrity," without specifically referring to Georgia, AFP says.

The signatories included Chinese President Hu Jintao, Dmitry Medvedev (Russia), Nursultan Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan), Kurmanbek Bakiyev (Kyrgyzstan), Emomali Rakhmon (Tajikistan) and Islam Karimov (Uzbekistan). The leaders of SCO observer countries Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan, were also present at the meeting.

At the summit, the member countries expressed deep concern over the latest developments in South Ossetia, and urged all the parties involved to resolve the issue peacefully through dialog, according to China Daily. They also welcomed the six-point proposal, reached in Moscow on Aug 12, to help settle the issue, and acknowledged the steps Russia had taken to promote peace and cooperation in the region, the same source adds.

While the West has blatantly accused Russia of violating Georgia's territorial integrity by recognizing the independence of the two breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the SCO leaders refrained from direct criticism, but also withheld giving their explicit support to Russia's actions, the Financial Times says.

According to AFP, the United States welcomed China's apparent reluctance to back Russia's decision to recognize the independence of the two Georgian secessionist regions.

The joint statement "was not what I would call an endorsement of Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia," AFP quotes US State Department spokesman Robert Wood as saying.

"Clearly there is unhappiness at what Russia did and most countries think that Georgia's territorial integrity must be upheld," Wood told AFP.