President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, as an honored guest, will take part in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which will take place in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe on September 17, the Tajik Foreign Ministry said in its Monday press release.
The SCO summit, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of its establishment, will gather leaders of Belarus, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Iran, Mongolia, and the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, according to the statement.
The SCO Secretary General Vladimir Norov and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Jumahon Giyosov will also take part in the meeting. The UN Secretary General and heads of regional organizations – CIS, CSTO, CICA, ECO and EAEU will also attend the summit.
The summit will discuss the main results of the SCO's activities over the past 20 years, the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation within the Organization. The Heads of State will exchange views on topical issues of regional and international cooperation, consider joint steps within the SCO to overcome the consequences of the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Tajik Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
Following the results of the summit, the heads of the SCO member states are expected to make decisions on launching the procedure for admitting Iran as a full member state of the SCO and granting the status of a dialogue partner to Egypt, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to the press release.
President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon in a letter sent to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in mid-September had invited him to take part in the SCO summit in Dushanbe as the Chairman's Guest of Honor.
The SCO is an international organization founded by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in 2001. Now the organization also includes India and Pakistan. Tajikistan chairs the SCO in 2021.
