DUSHANBE, March 16, 2011, Asia-Plus — Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev departed for the Kazakh capital Astana today morning to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) defense ministers’ meeting that will take place there on March 17, Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), said.
According to him, the meeting will bring together defense ministers of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as the SCO Secretary General Muratbek Imanaliyev and the SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure Executive Committee director Jenisbek Jumanbekov to discuss issues related to international and regional security and further expansion of cooperation between the defense ministries of the SCO member nations.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization or SCO is an intergovernmental mutual-security organization which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.
India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status in the Organization. Belarus and Sri Lanka were granted dialogue partner status in the SCO and Afghanistan is currently part of the SCO-Afghanistan Contract Group.
