Security Council Secretaries from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations are gathering in Dushanbe today to attend the 16th meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries, according to TASS news agency.

The previous meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries took place in September last year via video link due to the coronavirus crisis.  During the previous meeting, the Security Council Secretaries from the SCO member nations discussed issues related to providing security and stability in the SCO area of responsibility.  

Among other issues discussed at the previous 15th meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries was the situation in Afghanistan.  

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization currently has eight full members -- China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.  ACEAN, CIS, Turkmenistan and the United Nations are guest attendances.

The SCO now represents around 42% of the world’s population, 22% of its land area and around 20% of GDP.