Putin to Meet With Pakistani Leader at Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a bilateral meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana on Friday.

MOSCOW, June 9 (Sputnik) — The meeting will cover urgent issues on the international and regional agenda, Pakistan's activity within the SCO, as well as a number of bilateral issues.

India's and Pakistan’s accession to the SCO is the highlight of the SCO summit.

The SCO presently comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as permanent members and the documents on India and Pakistan’s accession to the SCO were signed during the organization’s Tashkent summit in June 2016. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia hold observer status, while Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka have the status of dialogue partners in the SCO.