UN Under-Secretary-General to represent organization at SCO forum

UNITED NATIONS, July 8. /TASS/. UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will represent the global organization at the forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) opening in Ufa on Thursday, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Frahan Haq told TASS on Tuesday. "The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs will represent the United Nations at the SCO meeting in Ufa," he said. He did not specify whether Feltman was planning to hold any bilateral meetings. On July 9 and 10 Ufa, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, will host the SCO summit, which is expected to take a number of important decisions, including a comprehensive program of the organization’s development until 2025 and the launch of accession process for India and Pakistan. The SCO is a standing regional international association established on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. Its primary activity areas are joint struggle against terrorism, extremism, cooperation in education, the energy sector, the oil and gas industry, transport, telecommunications and other areas. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have an observer status, while Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are the "dialogue partners." Read more