SCO summit begins, Karzai among participants --- KABUL (Pajhwok): President Hamid Karzai, who arrived in Tajikistan last night, is attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe, his office said on Friday. -- Presidents of three Persian-speaking countries -- Tajikistan, Iran and Afghanistan -- are to also meet day on the periphery of the summit. Tajik leader Emomali Rahmon will also hold talks with Karzai. -- Karzai, whose country Afghanistan is an observer, will attend the 14th summit of the organisation that groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The meeting will end on Saturday. -- A statement from the Presidential Palace in Kabul said Karzai was accompanied by his Foreign Minister Zarar Ahmad Osmani, National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta and Advisor on Foreign Affairs Yahya Maroofi. -- Participants are likely to endorse a series of legal documents to pave the ground for SCO expansion and boost the group's influence internationally, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. -- The expansion move is reflective of the fact that SCO is an open platform for safeguarding regional peace, not a China-led military alliance, as portrayed by some Western powers, it said. -- In an article published in a Tajikistan newspaper, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote: “SCO members have created a new model of international relations -- partnership instead of alliance." -- Members have been working within the SCO framework to ward off mounting security threats and challenges through the creation of transnational anti-terror agencies and staging joint drills. -- Building a Silk Road economic belt, which will engage and benefit SCO members and observers, is among the forum’s initiatives. - More, http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2014/09/12/sco-summit-begins-karzai-among-participants