SCO postpones events in territory of India - Kazakh Foreign Ministry
ASTANA. March 4 (Interfax) - The events of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) scheduled to be held in the territory of India have been postponed due to problems in the relations between Delhi and Islamabad, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev said.
"The postponement of the [SCO] events seemed to be the most logical measure in the light of the aggravation of the relations between the two SCO countries at this moment. It includes everything related to the events in the territory of India. There are also other events, in other countries, but the part that is being postponed is only related to the India events," Ashikbayev said in the Kazakh parliament on Monday.
"The principles of the Organization prohibit the inclusion in the SCO agenda of issues relating to bilateral conflicts, crises, differences," he said.
The terrorist attack in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, in which dozens of Indian police officers were killed, led to a military conflict between Pakistan and India, which has still not ended.
The SCO comprises India, China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus have observer status in the SCO and Turkey, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Nepal have dialogue partner status.