Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 6
By Demir Azizov – Trend:
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will attend the next meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) member states in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, on June 8-9, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry’s press service said in a message.
It is expected that the leaders of the SCO member states will discuss the current state and prospects of the organization’s further development, exchange views on topical issues of regional and international policy, and view the issue of chairing country for 2017-2018.
“As part of implementation of decisions of the SCO’s Tashkent summit, the procedure of admission of India and Pakistan to the organization as member states will be completed in Astana,” said the message.
President Mirziyoyev will also take part in the official opening ceremony of the International Specialized Exhibition Astana EXPO-2017 and hold a number of bilateral meetings with heads of foreign delegations.
The SCO was established in 2001. The SCO members now are China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus are the SCO observer-countries, while Azerbaijan, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Nepal and Armenia are dialogue partners.