Russia, China to Hold Joint Military Exercises Under SCO Aegis

Two regional security organizations comprising post-Soviet nations and China are planning joint military exercises, the chief of Russia’s general staff said Thursday, the RIA Novosti news agency reports. “We are currently discussing a joint exercise under the aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),” Yury Baluyevsky said, adding that the date of the exercise, which would also involve troops from Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) nations, had yet to be decided. Baluyevsky said the exercises would practice joint counteraction against terrorist threats. The chiefs of the CSTO nations’ general staffs held a meeting in Moscow Thursday to discuss ways to make the collective security system more effective, including by improving control of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force, which currently numbers 1,500 military personnel deployed in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.