By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

The next meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers has kicked off in Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent.

The meeting is being attended by Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdildayev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister Lilian Darii, Turkmen Deputy Foreign Minister Vepa Hajiyev and CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev.

Meetings of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers are one of the key stages in the preparation of meetings of the CIS Council of Heads of Government, which are held twice a year. In 2017, next meetings of the heads of state will be held in Moscow in October, as well as in Kazan in May and in Ashgabat in November.

The upcoming meeting’s agenda includes 16 draft documents, 10 of which are expected to be approved for further consideration by the heads of state and government.

One of the most important documents to be considered is the draft declaration of foreign ministers of the CIS member states on the inadmissibility of discrimination and intolerance against Christians, Muslims and representatives of other faiths.

More than a third of projects included in the agenda of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers are aimed at expanding and deepening cooperation in the sphere of ensuring security and countering new challenges and threats.

The foreign ministers will also consider a draft decision on amending the provision on the Bureau for the Coordination of the Fight against Organized Crime and Other Dangerous Crimes on the territory of the CIS member states.

Participants of the meeting also plan to exchange views on topical issues of strengthening regional security and stability, deepening trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.