DUSHANBE, March 28, 2014, Asia-Plus – The next meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Defense Ministers will take place in the Tajik northern city of Qairoqqum from April 1-3.

Delegations of Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will be led by their defense ministers while the Uzbek delegation will be led by the first deputy minister of defense, a source at the Ministry of Defense told Asia-Plus Friday afternoon.

The meeting, presided over by Tajik Minister of Defense Sherali Mirzo, is expected to discuss issues related to military and technical cooperation between the SCO member nations and the next joint anti-terrorism exercise that will be conducted this year in China.

We will recall that heads of the international military cooperation departments of the SCO defense ministries met in the Tajik northern city of Khujand on March 14.  

Founded by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on June 15, 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization.  Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.

The Organization currently has six full members -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey.