DUSHANBE, 15 September (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has arrived in Tajikistan on a working visit. The plane of the head of state landed at Dushanbe International Airport, BelTA has learned.
At the airport Aleksandr Lukashenko was welcomed by Tajikistan Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the authorities of the city of Dushanbe.
As BelTA reported earlier, the capital of Tajikistan is set to host a session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and a meeting of the Heads of State Council of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on 15-17 September. The Belarusian head of state is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings with his foreign counterparts.
The agenda of the CSTO summit will highlight issues of international and regional security and their impact on the security of the CSTO member states. One of the most important issues will be the situation in Afghanistan.
In the morning Dushanbe played host to a joint meeting of the Foreign Ministers Council, the Defense Ministers Council and the Committee of the Secretaries of Security Councils of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The parties discussed the military and political situation in the region and took stock of the organization's intersession activity.
At the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tajikistan, the heads of state are expected to decide on launching the procedure for Iran to access the SCO as a full-fledged member and grant the status of a dialogue partner to Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Vladimir Norov earlier said that the decisions which are to be taken at the meeting would “open a new page in the progressive development of the organization, multiply its contribution to maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world, ensure sustainable development and strengthening of cultural and humanitarian cooperation in the vast area of the SCO”.
