Dushanbe to Host Shanghai Forum Summit

Doha, August 26 (QNA) - Council of Heads of Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) will discuss expanding the role and scope of the forum in regional and international affairs at their summit meeting in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe on September 11 and 12. Tajikistan Ambassador to Qatar Ardasher Qodiri Tuesday announced details of the SCO Summit to be hosted by Dushanbe at a media conference here. "The SCO aims to strengthen co-operation among its members in strategic issues stemming from their common interests. The organization aims to formulate its regional co-operation with respect to security, economic and political affairs," Qodiri said. The Beijing-based SCO's six permanent members are China, Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia have observer status while Turkey, Belarus and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners of SCO. Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Qodiri said, "At the SCO Summit in Dushanbe rules will be adopted on how countries with observer status become full members," The SCO, originally called the Shanghai Five, was formed in 1996 to demilitarize the border between China and the former Soviet Union. In 2001, the organization added Uzbekistan and renamed it to the SCO, he said in his address to the media. The SCO's top decision-making body is the Council of Heads of State, he said. "This council meets at the SCO summits, which are held each year in one of the member states' capital cities. "The council of Foreign Ministers also hold regular meetings, where they discuss the current international situation and the SCO's interaction with other international organisations." The Secretariat of the SCO is the primary executive body of the organisation. It serves to implement organisational decisions and decrees, drafts proposed documents, function as a document depository for the organisation, arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates information about the SCO, he said. (QNA)