Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday arrived in Kazakhstan for a two-day summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana on June 8-9.

AVA_ The president was welcomed at the airport by the officials of the hosting country including education and science minister and deputy minister of foreign affairs.

During the visit, Ghani will address the 17th summit of the organization and hold bilateral meetings with participating countries on boosting relations and cooperation, according to a statement from his office.

“Ahead of the SCO opening, President Ghani to meet Chinese President XI Jinping, discussing bilateral relations, peace and security,” Ghani’s office said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among leaders expected in the gathering.

SCO was formulated in 1996 with five countries namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, China and Tajikistan.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are acting as observers of the body, but are expected to become full members.