DUSHANBE, May 16, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations met in Moscow on May 15 to prepare for a SCO summit next month in Yekaterinburg.

According to the Tajik MFA information department, the meeting participants discussed issues related to further development of the Organization, expansion of its cooperation with other international organizations as well as other foreign nations.

The sides also considered further expansion of cooperation within the frameworks of the SCO with focus on preparations for the mid-June summit as well as draft declaration and draft joint communiqué and some other documents.

The foreign ministers spoke highly of the achievements the SCO has accomplished since the Dushanbe summit last August, and exchanged views on jointly tackling the international financial crisis, cracking down on terrorism and deepening pragmatic cooperation among members.

The meeting resulted in signing resolutions concerning preparatory work for the SCO summit that will be held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 15-16 and the development of the organization.  They, in particular, signed resolutions on regulations on political and diplomatic measures and mechanisms of the Organization’s response to the situations posing threat to peace and stability in the region, organizing-personnel issues, and granting a dialogue partner status to Belarus and Sri Lanka status.

Itar Tass quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying Friday after the meeting, "Many countries have shown the striving to interact with the SCO, so we''ve worked out a special status of partner in the dialogue with the SCO.  Today, we''ve agreed to recommend to the heads of states to grant such a status to Belarus and Sri Lanka."

The same day, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with the SCO foreign ministers.

Founded in Shanghai in 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization comprises six member countries: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan