The New Great Game Round-Up #65

Both the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have started large military exercises with interesting scenarios in the last few days. 3000 soldiers from CSTO members Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan participated in the “Interaction 2014” drills of the CSTO's Collective Rapid Reaction Force, which took place in Kazakhstan this week and involved a scenario with some parallels to the conflict in Ukraine. The CSTO's rapid reaction forces were asked to prevent the destabilization of CSTO member state “Karania” following the coup d'état by “'brown' forces supported by the military-political leadership of several leading governments of the West” in a country bordering Karania. This scenario was most likely promoted by Moscow and Beijing's hand in the scenario of the SCO exercise is equally visible [emphasis mine]:

SCO exercise Peace Mission 2014 to involve 7,000 troops

The Peace Mission 2014 antiterrorist exercise of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be the largest ever in the organizations’ history, a Chinese military official said on Tuesday.

“It’s the first time that so many troops and so much weaponry have been deployed in joint drills under the SCO aegis,” Wang Ning, chief director of the drilla and deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, told the China Daily newspaper. Drones, Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft, air-defense missiles, tanks and armored vehicles have joined the anti-terrorist drills in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that will be held from August 24 to 29.

The joint exercise scenario involves a separatist organization in a certain country, supported by an international terrorist organization, plotting terrorist attacks and hatching a coup plot to divide the country, Wang said.

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