Editor's note: Details and the deputy minister's statements were added in the article
Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 12 / Trend M.Aliyev
A summit of the presidents of the five countries that surround the Caspian Sea - Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan - will be held in Baku on Nov.18, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said at the Caspian states' deputy foreign ministers' meeting in Baku today.
Prior to the Baku summit, Khalafov said, the countries' deputy foreign ministers will meet in Tehran.
Baku launched on Tuesday the Caspian countries' deputy foreign ministers' meeting to agree a draft agreement on security cooperation in the Caspian Sea.
In November 2003, the Caspian countries signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.
In July 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use.
On Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb.27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.
At today's meeting, the deputy ministers are negotiating to agree a draft agreement on security cooperation in the Caspian Sea, Khalafov said at the opening of the meeting.
The agreement is under discussion of the experts for the second year and certain work has been done in that time, he added.
Khalafov said the project aims to create a mechanism of security cooperation among the Caspian countries' state structures.
The meeting at expert level and work on signing an agreement on security cooperation can be a good example for cooperation in other areas, Khalafov said.
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