Shanghai corporation summit to take place in June

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The first Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit with the participation of Pakistan and India will be held in China's Qingdao city on June 9-10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Tuesday.

"The meeting of the SCO foreign ministers has come to a close. We focused our attention on preparations for the upcoming SCO summit, which will be held in Qingdao, China, on June 9 and 10. It will be the first SCO summit that will be attended by the leaders of eight member states following the accession of Pakistan and India," Lavrov said, speaking at a news conference in Beijing.

Lavrov recalled that India and Pakistan received the status of full members at last year’s summit in Astana, and the summit in Qingdao will be the first SCO summit they will attend as full members.

The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and security organisation established in 2001. Originally it included Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Last year India and Pakistan joined the organisation. Besides, Iran and Afghanistan currently have observer status in the SCO.