Kazakhstan is currently hosting the joint anti-terrorist military exercise Peaceful Mission-2010 involving about 5,000 officers and men from five Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries, namely, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, in addition to more than 300 pieces of military equipment.
The SCO, a key Asian entity, continues to improve multilateral military cooperation in a region where that is currently the most important objective.
The exercise aims to streamline methods for combating terrorist and separatist groups during medium and low intensity local conflicts.
The SCO's future development and its enhanced role in facilitating regional stability and security directly depend on the ability of its member-states to be effective in their fight against these phenomena.
It is impossible to overestimate the SCO's role here. At the same time, the SCO has no intention of turning into a military bloc. However, the military aspects of intra-SCO cooperation are crucial given the context of ongoing developments in Afghanistan and recent civil unrest in Kyrgyzstan.
RIA Novosti
