President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon said on Friday he intends to discuss bilateral relations with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
"I suggest that we discuss bilateral relations [between Tajikistan and Russia]," Rakhmon said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
"Thank you for the invitation and thank you for the possibility to hold a session of the Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of Governments," the Russian premier said.
The session of the Council of the SCO Heads of Governments will be held in Dushanbe on Friday.
The Russian premier said this was the second time over the past four months that he had come to "friendly Tajikistan."
"This is a symbol of our friendship," the Russian premier said.
The Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was inked in China’s Shanghai in June 2001 by six founding states - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. On June 9, 2017 India and Pakistan became full-fledged members of the SCO. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia currently enjoy observer status while Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are dialogue partners.