Iran to attend SCO conference as observer

TEHRAN – First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref arrived in Kazakhstan capita], Astana, on Monday evening to attend the international conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The SCO summit was to be held on Tuesday, Iran, India and Pakistan are to attend as observers, IRNA reported;
The observer status for the three aforementioned countries will be approved in the meeting.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 1997 and its current members are: Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Aref is scheduled to meet Kazakhstan’s President Nurslutan Nazarbayev and a number of Kazakh officials on the sidelines of the meeting.
He will also confer with heads of states participating in the conference;
The SCO was founded in 1997. The membership of Iran, India and Pakistan as observers has been welcomed and is expected to be ratified by the attending heads of member states during the gathering.
During the seminar, the tasks and cooperation process of the member states in Economic, security, trade, transportation and environmental,sectors will be discussed.
Meanwhile, the latest developments in the Central Asia countries and the challenges facing regional states, campaign against terrorism, extremism and separatism will be high on the agenda of the conference.