The session of the Council was held in Moscow, Russia, on 3 June 2015. Representatives of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China and Uzbekistan attended the event.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the Kremlin with participants in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs Meeting.

“Our organisation is developing successfully and, apart from the current member states, our partners in 12 different countries have shown an interest in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s work. We agreed that we would examine the possibility of India and Pakistan’s accession to the organisation. Other countries also seek more solid ties with our organisation. This is understandable, because the SCO is gaining greater weight and importance all the time, as it addresses the issues of greatest priority for our countries and for the region as a whole,” Putin said.

“We are working actively on convergence between two big projects – the Silk Road Economic Belt, and the Eurasian Economic Union. These issues include security, the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime, and, of course, issues related to our countries’ economic development. In this respect, I want to say again that we are working actively on convergence between two big projects – the Silk Road Economic Belt, and the Eurasian Economic Union. We are building the links between these projects and Russia’s plans to develop transport infrastructure in the east of our country. We have discussed these matters on many occasions with the SCO heads of state, and we are certain that this cooperation is in full keeping with our mutual interests. I hope for your help too and for your support as we prepare for these events,” the Russian leader said.

After the meeting with the Russian President, the Foreign Ministers of the SCO held a session to discuss preparations to the upcoming summit of the SCO leaders in Ufa in July and considered draft documents, which will be discussed by the leaders of the member states.

Foreign Ministers discussed a draft strategy of the SCO development till 2015, which should develop relations of member states in politics, economy, security and humanitarian spheres. They also considered draft of Ufa declaration and communiqué.

The SCO foreign ministers agreed to set in train the process of SCO enlargement, accepting India and Pakistan as member states that currently hold the status of observers.

The ministers also agreed to raise the status of Iran in the organization once the issue of Tehran’s nuclear program has been settled.

The SCO officials also exchanged opinion on regional and international issues, including situation in Afghanistan, Middle East and Northern Africa.

The ministers approved draft programme on cooperation of the SCO member states in fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism for 2016-2018. The SCO member states also discussed fighting illegal turnover of drugs and issues of ensuring information security.

The SCO officials also called to further develop partnership relations with other international organizations and forums, such as UN, UN ESCATO,ASEAN, CIS, etc.

The reports on the SCO Secretariat’s activities for last year and draft decisions of the upcoming summit of the SCO leaders were approved.

The SCO Foreign Ministers recommended candidate of Rashid Alimov from Tajikistan to the post of the SCO Secretary General from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2018.