MOSCOW, June 13 (AVN) - President Vladimir Putin will head the Russian delegation to the Shangai Forum that is to take place in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry main department for international military co-operation told the Military News Agency.
The delegation includes Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, the spokesman said. In additional to protocol events, the minister is planning to meet his Chinese counterpart Chi Haotian and discuss prospects of bilateral military and military-technical co-operation, pressing issues of global and regional security and military-political situation in the Asia-Pacific region. Special attention will be paid to antimissile defence issues, as well as to US plans of National Missile Defence (NMD) deployment that are being denounced by both Russia and China.
The Shanghai Forum, also known as Shanghai Five, comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan is likely to become a new member of the forum, as its president will also take part in the summit.