Tajik President Emomali Rahmon will attend the next summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that will take place in Qingdao, China from June 9-10.
Some experts consider that the Qingdao summit, with joint efforts from all sides, will be a significant meeting, setting future directions and goals for the SCO and marking a milestone in its history.
The summit will be the first of its kind after a membership expansion last June to include India and Pakistan.
The summit is expected to ratify a five-year outline for the implementation of the Treaty on Long-term Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation to set the direction for SCO cooperation in the next phase, and approve a host of resolutions and cooperation deals covering areas including security, economy and trade, as well as people-to-people exchanges.
According to China’s Xinhua, leaders of SCO member states and observer states, as well as chiefs of various international organizations will attend the 18th SCO summit in Qingdao.
The summit is expected to result in signing of the Qingdao Declaration and a dozen agreements on security and economic cooperation.
On the sidelines of the summit, Tajik leader is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with heads of delegations of the SCO member nations.
Emomali Rahmon is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov and Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
Besides, Tajik leader is expected to hold talks with prime-ministers of India and Pakistan.
The SCO 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.
