Putin to Meet With SCO Security Council Secretaries

Observer nations including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Belarus will be present at the meeting of Vladimit Putin with the secretaries of the SCO Security Council.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with the secretaries of the Security Council from the member nations and observers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Kremlin’s press service said Friday.

“The head of state chairing the SCO traditionally receives the secretaries of the Security Council ahead of the SCO’s Council of Heads of State. This will be the first time that observer nations will be present [at the meeting], including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Belarus,” the press service said.

The meeting will be held ahead of the tenth annual meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries on Tuesday in Moscow, where sides will discuss security issues within SCO territories.

The last meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries with the Russian president took place May 20, 2009.

The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic and military alliance founded in 2001 currently comprising Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Iran, India and Pakistan, as well as Mongolia and Afghanistan currently have observer state status, while Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are the alliance's dialogue partners.