By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao will meet in the South Urals Aug 16-17 for talks and a review of troops engaged in a regional anti-terrorism exercise, Peace Mission 2007, China’s ambassador to Russia said Friday.
“On the invitation of President Putin, Hu Jintao will visit Russia on Aug 16-17 to watch the joint anti-terrorism exercise conducted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),” Liu Guchang told a news conference.
The ambassador said the leaders would meet twice, and the heads of all SCO states would gather Aug 17 for a review of the troops in the Chelyabinsk Region, on the final day of the exercises, which started on Aug 9.
The group, comprising Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is largely viewed as a counterweight to NATO in the region. It has Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia as observer nations.
The SCO has never before held a full-scale military exercise involving all its member states, but Russia and China have already held several joint exercises under the auspices of the organization, including Peace Mission 2005. About 5,000 servicemen and 82 Russian and Chinese aircraft are engaged in the current exercises.
Established in 2001 as a non-military alliance, the SCO initially focused on Islamist extremism and other security threats in Central Asia but has since expanded its scope to include cooperation in disaster relief and trade.