The leaders of the (SCO) will gather for a summit in Tashkent on June 10-11 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, a Kremlin aide said on Wednesday.
The discussion will focus on Afghan drug trafficking and restoring order in the troubled Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan following the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April.
“Special attention will be paid to the situation in Kyrgyzstan and the peace efforts in Afghanistan including through the establishment of multi-party cooperation with the Afghan government and other interested partners in the sphere of security and economic cooperation and the fight against Afghan drug trafficking,” Sergei Prikhodko said.
The agenda of the summit will also include procedures on adopting new members to the SCO, which currently consists of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status in the organization, while Belarus and Sri Lanka were granted dialogue partner status at the group’s 2009 summit in Russia’s Yekaterinburg.
Media reports said Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is unlikely to attend the summit and the Iranian delegation will be represented by other government officials.
The Kyrgyz delegation will be led by the acting foreign minister, Ruslan Kazakbayev.
The issues of the joint fight against terrorism, extremism, organized crimes and drugs will be also high on the agenda of the forthcoming summit, Prikhodko told journalists.
On the sidelines of the summit, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold meetings with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov and Chinese leader Hu Jintao, Prikhodko said.
“Medvedev and Hu Jintao intend to discuss cooperation on the key international issues, including Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Korean peninsula. Besides this, they will focus on the development of trade and economic, humanitarian cooperation,” he said.
The Russian president is also expected to meet with other countries’ leaders on Friday, Prikhodko added. He did not rule out that Medvedev could meet with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, who will also attend the summit.
MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti)
