<p class="title">The meetings of the defence and foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), being attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, began here today.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The two meetings are being held around the same time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sitharaman who arrived here last night attended the defence ministers' meeting and Swaraj took part in the foreign ministers' meeting.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The two meetings were being held as part of the preparations for the SCO summit to be held in the Chinese city of Qingdao in June.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">These are the first top ministerial-level meetings of the SCO after the admission of India and Pakistan as members last year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A host of issues including the regional security and terrorism were expected to be discussed at the meetings and prepare agenda for the SCO summit.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The SCO, headquartered in Beijing, was founded in 2001.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan, the SCO aims at military cooperation between the member states and involves intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia and joint work against cyber terrorism.</p>
<p class="title">The meetings of the defence and foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), being attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, began here today.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The two meetings are being held around the same time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sitharaman who arrived here last night attended the defence ministers' meeting and Swaraj took part in the foreign ministers' meeting.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The two meetings were being held as part of the preparations for the SCO summit to be held in the Chinese city of Qingdao in June.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">These are the first top ministerial-level meetings of the SCO after the admission of India and Pakistan as members last year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A host of issues including the regional security and terrorism were expected to be discussed at the meetings and prepare agenda for the SCO summit.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The SCO, headquartered in Beijing, was founded in 2001.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan, the SCO aims at military cooperation between the member states and involves intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia and joint work against cyber terrorism.</p>