Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to establish the University of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation during the SCO Summit Thursday. SCO member-states need to develop humanitarian contacts, Putin stressed.

"In this context, an important topic is the establishment of the SCO University. It could be set up in the form of a network of educational institutions in the organisation’s member-countries, which would provide knowledge in accordance with the agreed study programme," he said.

Putin also added that this sort of project would not only benefit the students, but also the scientific community. "This would help expand the possibilities for our young people to receive high quality knowledge, as well as for the teachers and scientists to expand their scientific contacts," he noted.

The President of the Russian Federation proposed for the issue to be worked through by the Ministries of Education, and submitted for consideration to the Council of the Heads of SCO member-states, which includes the Presidents of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.