Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev starts a two-day visit to Uzbekistan on Thursday, during which he will take part in the seventeenth annual meeting of secretaries of security councils of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries.
The meeting will be held on August 19 in Tashkent and will include exchange of opinions on security and stability in the SCO region. The agenda also includes issues related to the further development of cooperation in the fight against terrorism, extremism, drug and weapons trafficking, transnational organized crime and international information security.
This year, Patrushev also visited Armenia to participate in a meeting of the Committee of secretaries of the security councils of the CSTO member states and Tajikistan to participate in multilateral consultations on Afghan issues.
The previous time the secretaries of the security councils of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries met was last June in Dushanbe. Then Patrushev called for a joint fight against the distortion of history and attempts to revive fascism, and said that the member countries of the organization must be more active in combating drug trafficking from Afghanistan. The secretary described the provision of medical and biological security in the territory of the SCO as a serious challenge.
Founded in 2001, the organization includes India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Observer countries are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, and partner countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS