Abdullah Abdullah calls on SCO members to back Afghan peace talks

Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has called on the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to use their leverage in bringing Afghan militant groups to the negotiations table.

"We call upon SCO member states to use their leverage and contacts with armed Afghan militant groups to urge they enter into intra-Afghan talks," Tolo News quoted Abdullah as saying at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Russia on Friday.

Abdullah also called for full membership of Afghanistan in the organisation in order to further enhance cooperation and achieve progress between the SCO and Afghanistan.

He called the SCO to grant Afghanistan permanent co-chairmanship for future Contact Group to help address the challenges that confront Afghanistan and the region.

Abdullah said that Afghanistan was seeking enhanced cooperation on anti-terrorism efforts between the SCO member states and Kabul.

According to the Tolo News, Abdullah reaffirmed Afghanistan's political will and commitment to the SCO objectives in enhancing regional connectivity and contributing towards security, stability, economic growth and prosperity of the region.

Earlier, Abdullah met Russia's Prime Minster Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit and discussed the fight against terrorism and strengthening of bilateral relations between the two sides.