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SCO members reach consensus on dialogue partner status provisions

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-25 22:06

DUSHANBE - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here on Friday members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have reached agreement over the regulations on SCO dialogue partner status.

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The regulations, after being approved, would allow all nations which are interested in interacting with the SCO to conduct cooperation with the organization through various ways, Lavrov told a press conference after a regular meeting of SCO foreign ministers in the Tajik capital.

The SCO may grant to the nations or international organizations concerned the status of a dialogue partner or observer. The rules and procedures for granting such status shall be established by a special agreement of member states, according to the SCO Charter.

During the meeting, participants also reached agreement on some specific documents, which would help raise the organization's efficiency in combatting terrorism and crack down on illegal trade in weapons.

This year's SCO summit will be held on August 28 in Dushanbe and the preparation work is going on smoothly, Lavrov added.

The SCO, founded in 2001, groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The SCO accepted Mongolia as an observer to the organization in 2004 and offered observer status to Pakistan, Iran and India in 2005.