The United Nations hosts an Afghanistan conference four days later at The Hague. Some horse trading ahead of the two events sees agreement that the common goal is to stabilize the Afghan situation, and that the agendas of the two conferences will not work at cross-purposes.

The Moscow conference will be devoted to the "threats of drugs and terrorists originating in Afghanistan", whereas the US-sponsored conference under the auspices of the UN will have a broader agenda of stabilizing Afghanistan.

Russia is the present rotating chair of the SCO, which includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. India, Iran and Pakistan hold observer status at the SCO.