Security Alliances Led By Russia, China Link Up

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

DUSHANBE: A Russia-led defence alliance signed an agreement on Friday to link up with a China-headed security body, but both sides denied they were challenging the Western alliance, NATO.

The agreement, signed in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, links the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), to the Collective Security Treaty (CST), an alliance grouping seven former Soviet states including Russia.

“The memorandum will allow us to broaden cooperation between our similar organisations in security issues, in fighting crime and illegal drug traffic,” SCO General Secretary Bolat Nurgaliyev said.

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Although the membership of the two groups overlaps to some degree, the move is a further demonstration of China and Russia’s determination to bolster security links with each other and with the vast, strategic Central Asian region.


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