Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov said Friday that the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a milestone in the development of the relations between its member countries.

He made the remarks here while meeting with journalists covering the meeting of the heads of states of the SCO.

Rakhmonov called the SCO a model for the establishment of a new kind of international relations, adding that Tajikistan welcomes the evolution of the "Shanghai Five" into a multilateral regional cooperative organization.

The establishment of the SCO will help promote cooperation between the member countries and put them in a better position in meeting the challenges of globalization and safeguarding the security of its members countries and that of the whole world, Rakhmonov added.

（Xinhua 06/15/2001）