China’s Xi flies to Kazakhstan for SCO summit

ISTANBUL

China’s President Xi Jinping Tuesday flew to Kazakhstan for a state visit and to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

Astana will host the 24th meeting of the council of heads of state of the SCO from Wednesday.

The SCO, established in 2001, aims to strengthen friendly good-neighbor relations and mutual trust among member states.

The SCO is expected to expand with new members as Belarus is mulling to join the bloc as a full member.

Xi will also pay a state visit to Kazakhstan and later fly to Tajikistan for a similar trip.

His first trip to Central Asia is scheduled to conclude on July 6.

While Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are attending the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is skipping the high-profile gathering.