MUNICH, Germany -- Kazakhstan's foreign minister, Erlan Idrissov, has called on NATO to establish dialogue with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Idrissov told an international security conference in Munich on February 2 that the SCO is "not an anti-NATO bloc" and that its goals are "benign."
He defined those goals as promoting regional economic cooperation and building a joint capacity to address security risks and threats.
The SCO groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Idrissov spoke as some 400 top diplomats and defense officials from the EU, the United States, and Russia meet at the annual Munich Security Conference in the southern German city.
The conference wraps up around midday on February 3.
It has already produced talk of "serious differences" between the United States and Russia from U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden.
Idrissov told an international security conference in Munich on February 2 that the SCO is "not an anti-NATO bloc" and that its goals are "benign."
He defined those goals as promoting regional economic cooperation and building a joint capacity to address security risks and threats.
The SCO groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Idrissov spoke as some 400 top diplomats and defense officials from the EU, the United States, and Russia meet at the annual Munich Security Conference in the southern German city.
The conference wraps up around midday on February 3.
It has already produced talk of "serious differences" between the United States and Russia from U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden.
