MOSCOW – Boosting counter-terror cooperation and evolving a common strategyto deal with radicalisation and separatism will be the focus of a megamilitary exercise in Russia next month, in which India, Pakistan and othermember-nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will participate,officials said today.

Around 200 Army and Indian Air Force personnel from India will participatein the exercise scheduled from August 20-29 at Chelyabinsk city inwest-central Russia, they said. All SCO member-countries, including Russia,China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, will be partof the mega exercise taking place nearly three months after the topleadership of the security grouping decided to step up anti-terrorcooperation in the region and disrupting all financial and logisticalsupport for terrorism.

The grouping, in its annual summit in Chinese city of Qingdao in June, hadresolved to deepen cooperation among the member countries to deal withthreats of terrorism, extremism and separatism. Prime Minister NarendraModi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putinwere among the leaders who had pitched for boosting defence and securitycooperation among the SCO countries. “The broad objective of the exerciseis to boost cooperation among the SCO countries to deal with challenge ofterrorism and extremism,” a military official said.

Sources said various scenarios to deal with any possible terror strikeswill be simulated as part of the exercise focussed on effectively repulsingsuch attacks. On the sidelines of the exercise, military officials of theSCO countries are expected to deliberate on ways to enhance cooperation tostop spread of terrorist ideologies and eliminate factors and conditionsthat facilitate terrorism and extremism, the military official said.

The SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO, has emerged as one of largesttrans-regional international organisations which accounts for 20 per centof the global GDP and 44 per cent of the world population stretching fromthe Arctic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and from the Pacific Ocean to theBaltic Sea. The aim of the SCO is to maintain peace, stability and securityof the region.