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Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Deguang Friday exchanged views on regional cooperation and the preparation for the upcoming SCO summit with Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin.
Zhang arrived in Moscow on Thursday after a three-day official visit to Uzbekistan, which is the first overseas trip of the top SCO official after he took office in January.
During Zhang's visit to Uzbekistan, he held talks with Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safayev and said the SCO's goal is to maintain peace and prosperity in the region, stressing the organization has no plan to set up a military alliance.
Safayev said the objectives of the SCO are to maintain regional security, develop economic cooperation and fight international terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime and they will not run against the interests of other countries.
Zhang also met with Uzbek President Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov, Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov and other officials during the visit.
All heads of state of SCO member countries will attend a summit in June in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and the meeting is of great significance to the SCO's future development.
The SCO, founded in June 2001, groups China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2004)
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