TASHKENT (Sputnik) — A two-day summit of SCO leaders started in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent earlier on Thursday. Putin is to hold a number of bilateral meetings with other foreign leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, on the sidelines of the summit, according to the Kremlin press service.
"I propose discussing the SCO's development as well, but we also have a number of bilateral issues, we have colleagues from the Economic Development Ministry and the Foreign Ministry. Today, we may talk about a broad scope of cooperation issues," Putin said at the start of his meeting with the Chinese president.
Russia attaches great importance to multilateral relations, he added, stressing that a number of documents are set to be signed at the SCO summit, with the signing SCO membership commitment memorandums set to be a major event.
The SCO is a political, economic and military alliance that includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Belarus, Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan hold observer status in the organization, while Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Armenia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka hold status of dialogue partners. Pakistan, India and Iran have officially applied for SCO membership.
