SCO leaders have narrow-format meeting in Tashkent

TASHKENT, June 24. /TASS/. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and other leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries have begun a meeting in the narrow format. After the meeting is over, the members’ delegations will join the talks. The event timed to mark the 15th anniversary of the organization will end by an official reception on behalf of the Uzbek president. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier the summit is expected to discuss particular steps to improve the SCO’s activity and develop cooperation in the priority spheres, such as security, counter-terrorism, economic and humanitarian ties. The SCO states’ leaders plan to exchange views on key global and regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and in the Middle East. Other issues for discussion include trade-and-economic cooperation. "Issues of harmonization of Eurasia’s integration projects, including the Eurasian Economic Union and the economic belt Silk Road, will be considered separately," Ushakov said, adding that the summit participants would also discuss the involvement of the ASEAN countries in this partnership. The process of admission of India and Pakistan, according to Ushakov, will enter the final stage at the Tashkent summit and the two countries will join the organization as full-fledged members at its next summit in Kazakhstan in June 2017. Apart from that, the Kremlin sees no grounds not to satisfy Iran’s application for SCO membership once this country has got rid of United Nations sanctions. The sides are expected to adopt the Tashkent declaration and sign an Action Plan for 2016-2020 and a range of other documents. After the events as part of the summit end, the Russian leader is due to meet with India’s prime minister. The Kremlin said this contact is important "in the run-up to our bilateral summit with the Indians, which will be held in India in October in conjunction with the BRICS summit, which will be held in India’s Goa." The meeting will focus on India's application for membership in SCO, as well as certain "issues of bilateral relations, in particular, issues related to cooperation in the energy sector." Ushakov stressed that Russia and India have relations of "privileged strategic partnership based on old traditions of friendship." After the SCO summit, Putin will arrive for an official visit to Beijing where he will have talks with China’s leadership on June 25 on the broad range of issues of the bilateral and international agenda. The Kremlin expects the visit will be fruitful. According to Ushakov, Russia and China are working on more than 50 documents which can be signed on the sidelines of the visit or in the presence of Putin and Xi Jinping. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent regional association founded in Shanghai, China, on June 15, 2001. Its priority tasks include joint counteraction to terrorism and extremism; cooperation in education as well as in the energy, oil and gas, transport, communication and other spheres. At present, the SCO comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have an observer status while Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka are partners for dialogue. Read more