Six member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Wednesday agreed to stage a joint anti-terror military exercise in 2007 in Russia, according to a joint communique.

The joint communique was signed in the wake of the SCO defense ministers' meeting, which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov gestures during a press conference in Beijing April 26, 2006. China, Russia and four Central Asian states have agreed to hold anti-terrorism drills in Russia next year. [Reuters]

"Using arms to face terrorists is not aimed at any third country. It is to maintain regional peace and stability," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told a news conference. "The SCO is not a military alliance. But, according to its charter, it has the right to use arms to react to any challenge, like terrorism."

An expert group will be set up to coordinate the preparation and implementation of the joint war game, the communique said.

Except Uzbekistan, other five countries of the SCO held their first-ever joint anti-terror exercise within the framework of the SCO in August 2003, with the first phase in Kazakhstan and the second in China's far northwestern Xinjiang region.

China and Russia held joint military exercises in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong in August 2005, the only time their two armies have cooperated on any significant scale since the Korean War in the 1950s.

Those manoeuvres were seen as a sign that the SCO had begun to show some teeth after a low-key start.

The defense ministers also discussed regional security during their meeting in Beijing.

"This defense ministers meeting will review the past and exchange views on issues of common concern," Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan said in the opening address Wednesday morning.

Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC) Guo Boxiong met with visiting defense ministers of the other five member nations.

Guo said the SCO has maintained a good development momentum since its foundation five years ago, and has become an important regional organization and a ligament linking the six member countries.

The SCO is playing an ever growing role in safeguarding regional security and stability and promoting regional development and prosperity, Guo said.

He said the defense cooperation, as an important work of the SCO, witnessed smooth development among defense departments of the member countries, and the regular defense ministers' meeting will be a major mechanism for ensuring the sustainable and stable development of the defense cooperation.

Guo said the defense cooperation does not target at any third party, nor will it infringe upon the interests of any other country. It is in the immediate interest of the SCO member nations and will be conducive to regional peace and stability and the world as a whole.

Guo stressed the SCO should implement the consensus reached by heads of the SCO member states on defense cooperation, and achieve practical results.

He said the Chinese side is willing to further enhance exchanges and cooperation with defense departments of other member countries, work together to fight against the "three forces" of separatism, terrorism and extremism, and maintain regional stability and promote economic development so as to work for the well-being of the people of all the countries.

The defense ministers of the SCO member nations said they are willing to further strengthen defense cooperation on the basis of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and consultation, and make new contribution to the development of the SCO.

Ten years ago, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, known as the "Shanghai Five", gathered in Shanghai and reached an agreement on the buildup of mutual trust in the military field along the border regions.

The "Shanghai Five" evolved into the SCO in 2001 by adding Uzbekistan as a member.
The five visiting defense ministers at the meeting were Kyrgyzstan's Ismail Isakov, Russia's Sergei Ivanov, Tajikistan's Sherali Khairullaev and Uzbekistan's Ruslan Mirzayevare and Kazakhstan's B. Darbekov.

A string of one-on-one meetings between defense ministers are also scheduled.