DUSHANBE, May 23, 2016, Asia-Plus – Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov is taking part in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers that kicked off in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, today.

According to the Uzbek MFA official website, the meeting participants included the foreign ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as the SCO Secretary-General Rashid Olimov and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Yevgeny Sysoyev. 

During two days, the SCO foreign ministers will discuss draft documents such as an SCO convention on fighting extremism, an anti-drug strategy of the SCO member-states for 2017-2022, a program of action toward its implementation, and some others.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website on May 21 that special attention will be given to discussions of SCO enlargement aspects, primarily the procedure of India''s and Pakistan''s admission to the organization.

The meeting participants will also draw up documents for a meeting of SCO heads of state.  

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

The Organization’s six full members account for 60% of the land mass of Eurasia and its population is a quarter of the world''s population.  With observer states included, its affiliates account for about half of the world''s population.