SCO summit will be held in Tashkent on June 23-24, 2016
Moscow, Russia: The next Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit will be held in Tashkent on June 23-24, 2016.
This was discussed in a meeting of the former Secretary General of the organization Dmitry Mezenetsev with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During meeting, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said: “I am certain our Uzbekistani friends and colleagues will do everything to hold it at the highest possible level.”
Dmitry Mezentsev added that Tashkent summit is also to confirm the start of the accession to the organisation by India and Pakistan, which required a great deal of work on the part of those countries.
In July 2015, it was reported that the SCO summit will be held in the first half of September. In summer 2015, Uzbekistan has taken over the rotating SCO Presidency.
It may be mentioned that the decision to postpone the summit from September to June was caused by the situation in the world. It is expected that members of the organization will discuss the current situation and the process of joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization by India and Pakistan.
Russia handed over its SCO presidency to Uzbekistan in 2016. The Secretary General of the Organization Dmitry Mezentsev was replaced by Rashid Alimov from Tajikistan. The SCO includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Belarus, Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan have status of observers. The procedure of enrolment of India and Pakistan in the organization was launched on July 10, 2015.
SCO meeting that held on December 16, 2015 in Wuzhen of Zhejiang Province China was important meeting to finalize features of June 2016 meeting.
This meeting was hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping while leaders of the member states attended the meeting including Prime Minister Karim Massimov of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Temir Sariyev of Kyrgyzstan, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda of Tajikistan, First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov of Uzbekistan, Secretary-General Dmitry Mezentsev of the SCO and Director Zhang Xinfeng of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Counter-terrorism Structure.
