Alwaght- A summit of the leaders of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization started in the Uzbek capital Samarkand.
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is chairing the meeting as his country is heading the bloc.
A set of issues are to be discussed at the meeting, including the cooperation inside the bloc and removing the obstacles ahead of expansion of the trade among the members.
Also, the process of Iran's full accession to the organization will be on the agenda.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an international intergovernmental organization that was established on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The organization is seeking to present an alternative to organizations dominated by the West, and particularly the US.
In last year's summit, Iran was given a green light for its membership process to start officially.
On Thursday, the Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian signed the SCO commitments document, taking a step closer to full membership.
