UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the signing of a landmark convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea by the littoral states after two decades of negotiation.
In a statement Monday, Guterres said "this historic document demonstrates the importance of regional cooperation, which is vital for maintaining international peace and security."
The secretary-general said he believes the convention should prove invaluable in regulating a wide range of longstanding issues among the Caspian Sea littoral states and is a significant step in the easing of regional tensions.
He congratulated the five signatory countries, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, on this achievement of regional cooperation and multilateralism.
The heads of all five countries bordering the Caspian Sea on Sunday signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan the convention on the legal status of the world's largest inland body of water after two decades of negotiations.
The convention banned non-littoral states from deploying military force on the sea, which essentially prevents external countries from intervening in regional issues with military power, and finally laid a legal foundation for the cooperative development of the offshore gas and oil reserves.
