MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. The prime ministers of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will hold a meeting on October 31-November 1 in Tashkent, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov told a session of the SCO Council of National Coordinators on Tuesday. The Roscongress Foundation released the text of his speech.

"The Council of National Coordinators is an important body in the mechanism of SCO cooperation which ensures the implementation of decisions taken by the organization at the high and top levels. At this stage your [the Council’s] main task is to provide details of the meeting of the SCO states’ prime ministers on October 31-November 1 in Tashkent, as well as the launch of the preparations for the summit of our organization in July in St. Petersburg," he said. "I am confident that you will duly perform it."

Morgulov added that there are plans to hold consultations on international issues of the SCO activity between deputy foreign ministers before the end of the year.

"It is necessary to think about determining the best algorithm of cooperation with the SCO’s observers and dialogue partners," the senior diplomat noted. "And, naturally, a substantive comprehensive conversation on the SCO extension issues is long overdue. We are ready to thoroughly discuss these issues during regular consultations on international problems between deputy foreign ministers which we are going to hold before the end of this year in Moscow."