BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, has wrapped up its summit in Krygyzstan. Calls for greater regional cooperation on security, trade, and energy dominated the agenda, but also on the agenda: looming issues of uncertainty in Syria and Afghanistan.

It was the right support at the right time for Vladimir Putin. The Russian President, getting a resounding endorsement from reliable friends for his initiative on Syria, just when the world is watching.

One after another, the SCO leaders backed Kremlin efforts to put Damascus’ chemical weapons under international control.

Putin said, "My colleagues have already said that Syria is in the main focus of our attention. We believe that any military intervention into this country from abroad without the sanction of the United Nations Security Council is unacceptable."

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, said, "We support Russia’s proposal to put chemical weapons in Syria under international control. We support all these efforts."

The group is gathering in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek for the annual SCO meeting, a club that includes China, Russia, and four Central Asian countries.

The traditional focus has always been regional security, combatting terrorism, extremism, and drug trafficking, but also extends to cooperation on trade, transport and telecoms.

Also on-hand, the new Iranian president. In office for just a month, this is Hassan Rouhani’s first trip abroad. And he used him comments before the group to defend his country’s nuclear energy aims.

Rouhani said, "Regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, we want the swiftest resolution of this issue in the framework of international standards."

Rouhani isn’t leave Bishkek empty-handed. In a meeting with the Russian President, the two finalized an agreement that would see Moscow selling Tehran S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, and building a new nuclear reactor at the Bushehr facility.

Meanwhile, the Afghan President Hamid Karzai; like Iran, also an observer to the SCO; called on his neighbors to support a peaceful transition in his country.

Most NATO troops in Afghanistan are due to leave in 2014. A possible power vacuum there, leader here warn, could spillover in the region, threatening stability and security in the SCO countries. When they next year in Tajikistan, they’ll have to face that threat head-on.

(Source: CNTV.cn)