Kazakh Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov at the meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states in Astana proposed to develop and adopt an agreement on confidence-building measures for all SCO states, BELTA reports.
The initiative, among other things, envisages "mutual visits to military units on a voluntary basis, provision of information on major military exercises, leadership and structure of defense agencies".
The participants of the meeting also discussed the relevant issues of international and regional security, identified steps to develop cooperation between defense agencies.
It was noted at the meeting that the SCO is not a military-political bloc, and military cooperation is not directed against other countries. The activities of the meeting are focused on strengthening confidence-building measures in the military sphere and coordinating efforts to counter challenges and threats to regional security. In that connection, the need to continue holding the joint military counter-terrorism exercise "Peace Mission" was noted.
In addition, in order to popularize the activities of the armed forces of the SCO member states, the heads of defense agencies agreed to develop cooperation between military history museums. The meeting resulted in the signing of a protocol, a number of documents regulating cooperation, and the adoption of a joint communiqué.
