TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Dushanbe which begins on Thursday.

Ahmadinejad and Medvedev will talk about strengthening relations between the two countries and discuss regional and international issues, the Fars News Agency reported.
This is the first time that two presidents meet each other.
The SCO’s eighth conference will be held on August 28 and 29. It will be attended by the presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its permanent members, the heads of state from Iran, India, Mongolia plus Pakistani foreign minister as observers, and the leaders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan as guests.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental international organization founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001 by six countries, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its member states cover an area of about three fifths of Eurasia, with a population of 1.455 billion. Its working languages are Chinese and Russian.
The organization’s main objectives include strengthening confidence among the members, increasing political, scientific, cultural, and educational as well as energy, transportation, tourism cooperation between the member states