DUSHANBE, March 12, 2014, Asia-Plus – Heads of the international military cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) defense ministries have met in the Tajik northern city of Khujand to discuss preparations for the next meeting of the SCO Council of Defense Ministers that will take place in Dushanbe from April 1-3, Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus Wednesday afternoon.

According to him, the meeting brought together representatives of defense ministries of Tajikistan, China, Kazakhstan and Russia to discuss the agenda of the upcoming SCO defense ministers’ meeting.

The meeting participants also discussed issues related to conducting the next joint anti-terrorism exercise.

“This year, the SCO anti-terrorism exercise will be conducted in China,” Mahmadaliyev said, noting that the Khujand meeting ended with signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation.

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.