Cooperation within SCO is crucial - President

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev has had a meeting with foreign affairs ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member-countries, Kazinform reports citing Akorda press service.

Those attending the meeting were: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan E.Abdyldaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan S.Aslov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan A.Kamilov, Secretary General of the SCO R.Alimov, Director of the SCO RATS Executive Committee Y.Sysoyev and Kazakhstan President's Aide for International Affairs N.Onzhanov.

Welcoming the participants, the Kazakh President noted the importance of the meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers on the threshold of the Organization's summit in Astana.

"Presiding in the SCO we attach great importance to the oncoming summit of the Organization scheduled for June 2017 in Astana. Our chairmanship in the SCO is going on amid complicated processes in the region and in the world," N.Nazarbayev said.

The Kazakh Leader pointed out a number of issues which are on the agenda of the SCO today. Among them is boosting the work on approval of the SCO Cooperation Concept on Environmental Protection, signing the SCO Convention on Countering Extremism and adoption of the statement on this issue as well as Anti-Drug Strategy of the Organization's member-countries.

"The economic and cultural-humanitarian cooperation within the SCO is crucial. One more important issue of the oncoming summit's agenda is adoption of a decision on finalizing the procedure of accepting India and Pakistan to full-fledged membership in the SCO. The adoption of the Astana Declaration is planned too," said the President.