Russian media reports say Moscow will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting, which is reportedly scheduled on September 9-10.
Preparations for a summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be a focus item in the meeting that will be presided over by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Lavrov will hold a number of bilateral meetings with his counterpart from the SCO member nations, TASS says.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded at a Summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization currently has eight full members — China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. ACEAN, CIS, Turkmenistan and the United Nations are guest attendances.
The SCO now represents around 42% of the world’s population, 22% of its land area and around 20% of GDP.
