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Pakistani President to attend SCO summit in Tashkent

Xinhua, June 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain will lead the country's delegation to the meeting of the Heads of States Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on June 23 and 24, an official announcement said Tuesday.

Pakistan is expected to sign the "Memorandum of Obligations" in Tashkent which will be a major step towards becoming a full member of the SCO, the Foreign Ministry said.

Prior to that, as an Observer State of the SCO, Pakistan has been making substantive contribution to regional peace, security and development, a foreign ministry statement said.

Pakistan was invited to start the process of becoming full SCO member at the Heads of State Council meeting held in Ufa, Russia in July 2015.

SCO is an important organization founded in Shanghai in 2001. Its member states include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO Heads of States Council is the highest decision-making body of the organization.

The SCO also has five Observers and three Dialogue Partners.

Pakistan became an Observer in SCO in 2005 and was the first country to apply for full membership in 2010.

The president will also hold important bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, the statement said. Endit