Defense ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a 10-year-old regional security body, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday noon for security talks.

The five visiting defense ministers were Kyrgyzstan's Ismail Isakov, Russia's Sergei Ivanov, Tajikistan's Sherali Khairullaev, Uzbekistan's Ruslan Mirzayevare and Kazakhstan's B. Darbekov.

Together with Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, they will attend the SCO defense minister meeting on Wednesday, sources with the Chinese Defense Ministry said.

The ministers will discuss regional security issues, including the fight against the "three forces" of separatism, terrorism and extremism, and other issues of common concern.

A string of one-on-one meetings between the defense ministers are also scheduled to be held.

Dubbed a new model for regional cooperation, the SCO also has four observer states, namely Mongolia, Pakistan, India and Iran.

Source: Xinhua