The official program will begin on the first of September with a welcoming ceremony hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping for his counterparts from the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This will be followed by a meeting of the Council of Heads of State, summarizing the results of the organization’s activities for the period 2024-2025, and discussing issues of strengthening the association, necessary modernization, and enhancing cooperation in political, security, economic, and humanitarian fields, in addition to current international issues. Earlier today, the Russian President arrived in the Chinese city of Tianjin at the start of an official visit that will last until the third of September, at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. According to a Sputnik News Agency correspondent, the visit will last for 4 days. On the sidelines of the summit, Putin is expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings, including discussions with Iranian President Masoud Bazkesian, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, among other leaders. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an international organization founded in 2001, comprising Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. It also includes a number of observer states such as Afghanistan and Mongolia, and partner countries such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. The Russian President’s Assistant, Yuri Ushakov, described the Shanghai Cooperation Organization today, saying: “The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is today one of the largest and most reliable regional structures. It is simply a massive regional structure, with nearly half of the world’s population living in its member states.”
