The Hindu : Defence pact set up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 15, 2002

International

International

Defence pact set up

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: Russia and five other ex-Soviet states decided to set up a full-fledged military alliance reminiscent of the cold-war-era Warsaw Pact in Eastern Europe. Under the decision taken at a summit of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Belarus in Moscow on Tuesday, the 10-year-old Treaty of Collective Security, of which they are all members, will be transformed into a regional defence pact — "Organisation of the Treaty of Collective Security.'' The new alliance will establish a joint military planning body, adopt common military-technical standards and training programmes, and set up a joint regional force for Central Asia. Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, stressed a non-confrontational character of the new defence bloc, saying it was an alliance "not against someone, but against shared threats.'' ``We are open for cooperation with other similar organisations,'' Mr. Putin said. "The Organisation of the Treaty of Collective Security can be an element in the new global security structure, along NATO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.''

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