The SCO leaders have repeatedly denied any plans to transform their group into a defense alliance, but the security component of the organization has been expanding at breathtaking pace. Three years ago the SCO set up a modest Regional Anti-Terror Structure (RATS) for information exchange and joint training of national security services. Two years later cooperation between the Defense Ministries was institutionalized through the establishment of a Defense Ministers Council, and earlier this year Russia circulated a draft agreement to formalize closer military ties among the SCO states.

Beijing has now backed Moscow's proposal to establish a partnership between the SCO and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a defense pact of former Soviet states, even though earlier it was reluctant to have ties with a strictly military alliance and rejected Moscow's initiative to make ?Peace Mission-2007? a joint exercise of the SCO and CSTO. ?I think the SCO and the CSTO can and must cooperate,? Chinese Ambassador to Russia Liu Gushing said in the run-up to the Bishkek summit. CSTO Secretary-General Nikolai Board usher had earlier announced that the two organizations would shortly sign a protocol on cooperation and might hold joint military training in future.

A political declaration adopted in Bishkek bluntly stated that regional security was the responsibility of the SCO and no one else. ?The heads of state think that stability and security in Central Asia can be ensured primarily through the efforts taken by the nations of the region on the basis of existing regional organizations,? the declaration said.

The Russian and Chinese leaders both called in Bishkek for closer security cooperation within the SCO. President Vladimir Putting said the ?Peace Mission-2007? war games were part of ?a joint system of rapid reaction to regional threats? that is being set up ?to enhance the SCO potential in the sphere of security.? Intriguingly, for more detail visit www.huge-niche-keywords.com the scenario for ?Peace Mission-2007? ? freeing a town captured by terrorists ? was reportedly based on the 2005 armed revolt in Uzbekistan, when radical Islamists for several hours seized control of the provincial capital Andean. Mr. Putting called for holding war games on a regular basis in different countries of the SCO.

The security agenda of the SCO appears to be extending beyond the problems of Central Asia. Both Russia and China feel threatened by U.S. plans to build a global missile shield to gain ultimate strategic supremacy. The issue did not come up in public speeches in Bishkek, except for a blistering attack from Iran's Mahout Amandine ad, which slammed the U.S. plan as ?threatening not just one country, for more detail visit www.the20seotools.com but much of the Asian continent and SCO members.? However, the U.S. anti-missile plans were discussed at ministerial-level meetings in Bishkek ahead of the summit.

Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Surd upon said ?the deployment of elements of the U.S. global missile shield in Europe destroys the strategic military balance,? while Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lvov warned that the U.S. plan ?is bound to impact on this region, bearing in mind the list of members and observers of the SCO.?

The SCO's security concerns are also prompted by a looming U.S. defeat in Iraq and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. ?The situation in the region and neighboring countries remains unstable,? Gen. Blue-sky was quoted as telling SCO military chiefs in Chinese Uremia ahead of the Bishkek summit. ?It would be premature to speak about its improvement. Moreover, the worst-case scenario cannot be ruled out. In particular, it is quite possible that the situation in Afghanistan may deteriorate even further.?