Foreign Ministers Of Shanghai-5 Meet At Plenary Session In Moscow

Foreign ministers of the Shanghai-5 group of states meet at a plenary session as part of their Moscow summit. Saturday morning, there was a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai-5 states, i.e. Igor Ivanov of Russia, Tang Jiaxuan of China, Erlan Idrisov of Kazakhstan, Muratbek Imanaliyev of Kirghizia and Talbek Nazarov of Tajikistan. Other members of the delegations joined them later. The issues on the forum's agenda are the summing up of its work over the period after the Dushanbe summit held in July 2000, and preparations for the next meeting of heads of state of the Shanghai-5 due to be held in Shanghai in mid-June. It is expected that prospects for the development of cooperation will be discussed at the Shanghai forum at a qualitatively new level. The forum participants will discuss their further work within the framework of the Shanghai-5 group, some international issues, and the situation in Central Asia. They will also examine a possible increase in the number of the forum's members, i.e., the entry of Uzbekistan and Pakistan which expressed their wish to join the Shanghai-5 group. It is planned that following the Shanghai-5 ministerial meeting, the forum will adopt a joint political statement which will reflect the five countries' positions on key international issues, including that of strategic stability.