MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. The first meeting of the SCO plus format on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit will be held on July 4 in Astana, Russian presidential aide for international affairs Yury Ushakov told reporters.

"On July 4, a meeting will take place in the "SCO plus" format. This format is designated as "SCO plus" for the first time. Previously, all invited countries were represented at an expanded meeting of the SCO. <…> Now a new format has been officially proclaimed," the Kremlin representative noted.

The topic of the meeting is "Strengthening multilateral dialogue - the pursuit of sustainable peace and development."

As Ushakov reported, among those who were invited to the first meeting in the SCO plus format are President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan, the ruler of the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, a member of the Supreme Council of the Emirates Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi and Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

According to the Kremlin representative, the meeting will also be attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev, as well as representatives of the EEC, the Islamic Organization for Food Security, the CSTO, CICA, and the Economic Cooperation Organization.

The SCO summit will be held on July 4 at the Palace of Independence in Astana. It is expected that SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming will attend the summit. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the leaders of several international organizations were also invited.

The SCO was founded on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. Initially the organization included Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in 2017 they were joined by India and Pakistan. Tehran applied to join in 2008 and became a full-fledged member of the organization in July 2023. Belarus is expected to join the group soon.