Source: Xinhuanet
06-15-2006 10:29
SHANGHAI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have arrived here for the summit meeting of a regional organization named after China's largest city.
The heads of state of include Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
On Thursday, they will be attending the summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an intergovernmental organization that comprises these five countries and China. The SCO was established in Shanghai in 2001.
As they entered the spotlight at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, the presidents were presented with bouquets by Shanghai children.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chinese President Hu Jintao joined them to plant a magnolia tree at a hotel in western Shanghai.
Magnolia flower is the symbol of Shanghai and magnolia trees can live for as long as 1,000 years. It is said the long-lived tree signifies the vitality of the SCO.
At the summit on Thursday, the presidents are expected to review the organization's achievements in the past five years, outline objectives for future cooperation and exchange ideas on major international and regional issues.
The summit will pass an SCO declaration and endorse a series of documents, including one on building a new security concept and one on information security.
On the sidelines of Thursday's summit, Hu will have meetings with his counterparts from the other five SCO members as well as participants from observer countries.
The four observer countries are represented by Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora. The four countries were accepted as SCO observers in 2004 and 2005.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will attend the SCO summit as a guest of the host country.
The summit will also see participants from international organizations which have established cooperative relations with the SCO, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
In an article published on the eve of the summit, Putin hailed the SCO as "having introduced new patterns of successful international cooperation" and "an important factor for maintaining stability in Eurasia." Enditem
Editor:Chen Minji
