Beijing: SCO Heads of Governments to Hold Virtual Summit on Tuesday

BEIJING (Sputnik) - A summit of the heads of governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will take place on November 1 via videolink and focus on reviewing implementation of decisions reached at the previous meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

"The 21st meeting of the SCO head of governments council will be held on November 1 via videoconference," Zhao told a briefing.

The official also said that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang would exchange views with the leaders of SCO member states on the realization of the September summit results, security, economic, humanitarian cooperation, as well as new ideas and measures for expanding mutually beneficial cooperation within the organization.

The latest SCO summit was held in the Uzbek city of Samarkand from September 15-16 during which forty-four documents were signed. In particular, Iran signed a memorandum of obligations with the SCO, paving the way for the country to join the organization. A document was also signed on the beginning of the procedure for Belarus' accession.

The SCO is an international organization founded by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan in 2001. In 2017, India and Pakistan were admitted to the organization. SCO observer countries include Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, while the partner countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.