By RIA Novosti
Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) : Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday proposed holding regular counter-terrorism exercises in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries.
A summit of SCO countries was held Thursday in the capital city of Kyrgyzstan. The six countries’ armed forces have been taking part in the Peace Mission 2007 exercises in Russia’s south Urals since Aug 9. Leaders of the SCO member states are expected to attend the final day of drills Friday.
Vladimir Putin told the SCO Council of Heads of State: “As you know, the exercises are being conducted successfully and are demonstrating the growing technical potential and a good coordination level of units. It is, therefore, worth considering regularly holding such exercises on the territories of different SCO countries.”
The council’s meeting followed closed talks between SCO leaders. The bloc, originally set up for cooperation on security issues, comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and has Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia as observers.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Afghan President Hamid Karzai also attended summit meetings in the ex-Soviet country as guests.
The day before the summit, several bilateral meetings were held, including talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and a meeting between Putin and the summit’s host, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
Addressing the leaders of the organisation, set up 11 years ago and seen by many as a counterbalance to US influence in the region, Putin said the world needed a multi-polar system for international security. He spoke out against attempts by any one nation to take global security into their own hands.
“Russia, like other SCO states, favours strengthening the multi-polar international system providing equal security and development potential for all countries. Any attempts to solve global and regional problems unilaterally have no future,” he said.