The foreign ministers of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the upcoming meeting in Astana on May 20-21 will consider the candidacy of a new Secretary General of the organization, it is said in a announcement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"The ministers will consider the main issues of the current state of affairs in the SCO and will exchange views on current regional and international issues. Special attention will be paid to the content of the meeting of the Council of Heads of State (HGC) of the SCO on July 3-4 in Astana – the key event of Kazakhstan's presidency in the organization, the ministry said. - Ministers will consider applications for a new SCO Secretary General and Director of the SCO RATS Executive Committee."
The diplomatic department also noted that the formation of the architecture of a new global world order will be a dominant topic within the foreign policy agenda. "The Russian side proceeds from the fact that an important vector of interaction at the current stage should be the creation of a contour of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, based on close interaction between the Eurasian countries themselves without external presence or interference," the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.
The Ministry noted that the meeting is planned to exchange views on the situation in the Gaza Strip and in the Middle East in general and the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “A special place is expected to be occupied by the issues of SCO assistance for the stabilization in Afghanistan, given the importance of this factor for the security of the SCO space“, the diplomatic department added.