Top officials from a regional group bringing together Russia, China and key central Asian countries met in Moscow, with India, Iran and Pakistan attending as observers for the first time.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) "is gathering momentum and acquiring more and more political weight," Russian President
Vladimir Putin said after meeting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at the start of the talks.
He noted that the countries represented, which include major global energy producers, made up more than half the world's population.
The SCO "will come up with decisions which have an effect on... the majority of people on this planet. That in itself is a significant factor in world politics," Putin said at the SCO meeting later Wednesday.
A major focus for the group would be "the security of our citizens, including efforts against international terrorism," Putin said, mentioning unrest in Uzbekistan and the Russian North Caucasus city of Nalchik this year.
The SCO inaugurated an anti-terrorist centre in the Uzbek capital Tashkent in June 2004.
Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, Iranian Vice President Parviz Duvadi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz were attending the SCO meeting for the first time Wednesday after being given observer status earlier this year.
Mongolia joined as an observer in 2004.
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Does this mean that Russia is slowly starting to see itself as an 'Asian' nation rather than a European one?
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