ASTANA, (Kazakhstan): Foreign ministers and diplomats from around a dozen of Iran’s political and economic partners paid tribute to late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at a meeting of a China-led regional bloc on Tuesday.

Raisi and Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Envoys from Russia, China, India and Pakistan were among those who stood for a minute’s silence at the start of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi killed in helicopter crash, official says

“Despite these difficult times, Iranian representatives are taking part in this ministerial council for the first time,” Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a statement released by his office.

The SCO is designed to boost relations, trade and investment between among its members, primarily with four Central Asian republics — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.