17th SCO summit kicks off in Astana today

Astana. 9 June.REPORT.AZ/ Today, Kazakhstan's capital Astana is hosting 17th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

A journalist of Report News Agency who is on official trip to Astana informs, the summit will be attended by member states' leaders - President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as well as leaders of the SCO observer states - President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and Deputy Iranian FM Ibrahim Rahimpur.

The heads of states will discuss issues of security, expansion of cooperation.

More two states, India and Pakistan are expected to join the organization during the summit. If it takes place, total population of the SCO member states will reach 3 bln, which means nearly half of the world's population.

Notably, the SCO was established in 2001 and includes 6 states - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Azerbaijan is a dialogue partner to the organization.

The previous summit was held in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) on June 23-24, 2016.