Astana meeting SCO defense ministers

Astana is welcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states’ delegations arriving for the SCO Defense Ministers meeting to be held March 17, Tengrinews.kz journalist reports, citing the Ministry’s press service. March 16 Kazakhstan’s Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov met his Chinese counterpart China's Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie. The sides emphasized it had been their 5th meeting for the last year and a half, which gives a strong impetus to ties between the two armies. “Kazakhstan attaches special importance to cooperation with China within the SCO. Interaction between the two Defense ministries has been on the rise”, the ministry’s press service quoted Adilbek Dzhaksybekov as saying. The Chinese Minister pointed out that the joint drill “Peaceful mission – 2010” held at Matybulak testing site had revealed potential of the SCO armed forces to cooperate in strengthening regional security. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental mutual-security organization which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization. Kazakhstan is this year's rotating chair state of the SCO.