DUSHANBE, March 18, 2014, Asia-Plus – A meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of National Coordinators, presided over by the Tajik side, took place in Beijing, China from March 11 to March 14, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
The meeting reportedly discussed issues related to preparations for a SCO summit that will take place in Dushanbe and other events, including a meeting of the SCO Security Council secretaries, SCO foreign ministers’ meeting, a meeting of competent bodies of the SCO member nations, a meeting of the SCO council of defense ministers, SCO culture ministers’ meeting, as well as an international conference to discuss SCO’s role in providing regional security.
The meeting also discussed preparations for a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, which is the second-highest council in the Organization. The next meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government will take place this year in Astana, Kazakhstan.
As the name suggests, the Council of National Coordinators coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member nations within the framework of the SCO”s charter.
We will recall that Tajikistan has assumed the SCO rotating presidency for this year.
Founded by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on June 15, 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.
The Organization currently has six full members — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
