MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/. On June 13-15, Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in the Tajik capital Dushanbe later this week.

He is also expected to hold numerous bilateral and multilateral talks on the sidelines of those events.

The Russian leader will arrive to the Kyrgyz capital on Thursday afternoon, his aide Yuri Ushakov said. His first meeting there will be with re-elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the official, Moscow attached great significance to those talks and "specifically agreed that this contact will be the first on our agenda in Bishkek."

Later that day, the Russian leader will attend an informal lunch for heads of national delegations, and a gala concert. During those events, the Russian president will talk with Kyrgyz Presuident Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

SCO summit

The official part of the SCO summit will begin in Bishkek on June 14, with a restricted-attendance summit traditionally held behind closed doors. It will bring together the leaders of the member states - India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The participants are expected to discuss the present state of affairs and prospects of intensifying security cooperation and efforts to combat terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as cooperation in economy, industry and on humanitarian issues. Besides, the participants will discuss the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

According to Ushakov, during the restricted-attendance talks Putin will outline Russia’s strategy for the Syrian settlement, touch upon Iran‘s nuclear program and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and "will speak on actions within the framework of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group."

The Kremlin official added that Putin will also draw "the attention of his colleagues to a need to further enhance the contribution of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to shaping a global world order with the central role of the United Nations, expanding SCO’s cooperation with the UN and other global agencies, primarily on issues of coordinating joint efforts in fight against extremism and terrorism."

The summit will continue with talks in the extended format, with the participation of observer states - Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. Besides, this meeting will be attended by heads of several international organizations, including UN deputy secretary-general, chairman of the CIS Executive Board, acting CSTO secretary-general and chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s board. According to Ushakov, the extended session will focus on global security and regional stability issues.

During the extended session, the Russian leader will put an emphasis on Russia’s SCO chairmanship in 2019-2020. "We suggest concentrating work on raising the SCO’s role in global affairs, on shaping broad regional partnership," Ushakov said. "Much attention will be paid to economic coordination on the trajectory of innovations, transport logistics, infrastructure, information technologies, etc."

He said Putin "will speak in favor of expanding interregional inter-parliamentary cooperation within the framework of the Organization". Also, the Russian leader will focus on joint large-scale events to mark the 75th anniversary of World War II Victory. Putin will invite his colleagues to take part in these festivities in Moscow next year.

Ushakov said the current diplomatic spat between Pakistan and India is not on the summit’s agenda, but the issue may be raised if necessary.

"This issue is not on the agenda but I presume that both Indian and Pakistani representatives will touch upon this theme in their speeches to some degree or other. I do not know whether or not this theme will be discussed," the Russian presidential aide said.

SCO leaders are expected to sign the Bishkek declaration reflecting the sides’ vision on further expansion of the organization. The document will also contain a coordinated approach to important international and regional issues.

Besides, a vast package of other documents is also up for signing. Some of them will be inked by the leaders, others - by the ministers or the Secretary General on behalf of the SCO.

Particularly, the summit will see the signing of an inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in the media sphere, digitalization and ICT cooperation framework, roadmap on the further actions of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, memorandum of understanding with the World Tourism Organization, as well as memorandums of understanding with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

As Russia is to assume the rotating SCO presidency after the Bishkek summit, Vladimir Putin will invite his counterparts to the July 22-23, 2020 summit in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk.

Meetings in Bishkek

Once the SCO summit is over, Putin plans to attend the fifth Russia-China-Mongolia summit. Such talks, held since 2014, traditionally focus on trilateral cooperation of the three neighboring states.

After that, Putin will meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. According to Ushakov, the meeting’s agenda will include ways to strengthen trade and economic ties and boost cultural and humanitarian exchanges between the two countries.

"The parties plan to discuss a wide range of global issues, including developments in Syria and the situation surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for Iran’s nuclear program," the Kremlin aide said.

CICA Summit

After Bishkek, Putin will visit Dushanbe to take part in a summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The event’s official program will begin on June 15, and it will bring together delegations from the 27 member states and 13 observer nations, including envoys of the United Nations, the Arab League, the International Migration Organization, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-Speaking Countries (TURKPA).

CICA summits had been initiated by Kazakhstan’s first President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the 1992 United Nations General Assembly. The forum seeks to create a trans-Asian mechanism for dialogue on key regional issues and cooperation matters. Nazarbayev, as the organization’s founder, will deliver a speech at the plenary meeting, together with Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to Ushakov, the CICA summit’s agenda was largely similar to that of the SCO summit.

While addressing the summit, Putin plans to clarify his views on resolving regional issues, including those related to Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and North Korea. "We will specify our position on Afghanistan and Syria in light of the situation in Idlib province, as well as on Iran’s nuclear program and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, given our recent talks with the North Korean leader," Ushakov said.

Putin will also highlight "the importance of collective efforts to establish a fair world order, resolve pressing regional and global issues, as well as the need to improve the regional security architecture and boost cooperation between Asian countries in the fight against terrorism."

"We will certainly call for strengthening economic ties between CICA countries and point to the CICA Business Council, formed in 2015 at our initiative, we will also talk about the importance of pairing various integration projects that are implemented in Eurasia," the presidential aide added.

The leaders would approve a declaration that "will reflect CICA member states’ consolidated views on key global issues, their common commitment to the principle of multi-polarity in international relations based on the central role of the United Nations. The document will also emphasize the need to prevent violations of international law and attempts to interfere in the domestic affairs of countries, as well as to form an equal and indivisible security system in Asia and boost cooperation between regional organizations in countering threats and challenges," the Kremlin aide said.

Bilateral talks

In Dushanbe, Putin is expected to hold a separate meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon to exchange opinions on a broad range of issues of bilateral agenda and regional problems.

Unscheduled contacts with other leaders are also possible on the sidelines of the summit, Ushakov said.

Besides, a meeting with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is also possible, but has not been finally coordinated as of yet.