DUSHANBE, July 26, 2014, Asia-Plus – A meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of National Coordinators kicked off in Dushanbe today, according to the Tajik MFA information department.

Presided over by the Tajik side, the meeting is reportedly discussing issues related to preparations for a SCO summit and other events, including the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting.

The SCO foreign minister will meet here from July 30-31 and a SCO summit will take place in Dushanbe from September 11-12.  

The meeting of the SCO Council of National Coordinators will last until September 29.   

As the name suggests, the Council of National Coordinators coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO''s charter.

We will recall that Tajikistan has assumed the SCO rotating presidency for this year.

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.