SCO summit to be held in Tashkent today

The six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit will begin on Thursday (today) in Tashkent. President Asif Ali Zardari would represent Pakistan. The main objective of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit would be to curb terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking. Pakistan was given the status of observer in SCO summit for the first time in 2005. The summit is expected to clear the rules and procedures for expanding the membership of the regional grouping that comprises Russia, China and the energy-rich Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.