The foreign ministers of member countries of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO), a six-member intergovernmental
group, will meet in Shanghai today to pave the way for the SCO
Summit to be held in mid-June.
Foreign ministers from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are expected to sign several agreements
at the meeting and set the final agenda for the summit.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters
earlier that the ministers would exchange views on deepening SCO
cooperation and debate other international and regional issues of
common concern.
As Iran has observer status and seeks to become a full member,
the country's nuclear issue has been given much attention, although
Liu said SCO members have yet to decide if the issue will be put
forward for discussion.
In addition to attending the annual meeting, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov began a two-day official visit to China
today.
He is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese leaders and his
Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing in Beijing tomorrow to further the
two countries' bilateral strategic partnership.
Observers said as this year marks the Year of Russia in China,
cooperation between the two countries in various fields is
constantly being enhanced and the frequent and in-depth exchange of
the two foreign ministers is of great significance in safeguarding
global and regional peace and stability.
Li also held bilateral talks with visiting Tajikistan Foreign
Minister Talbak Nazarov yesterday in Shanghai.
(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2006)