Joint Drill With China Heralds New Defence Relations - Russian Minister
Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 09:00 CDT
Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov has praised the joint Russian-Chinese military exercises that have been under way at China's Shangdong Peninsula since 18 August, saying they bear witness to "qualitatively new relations" between the two countries in the defence and security spheres.
"The exercises can be praised. They have demonstrated the increasing skill and military expertise of the two states' armed forces. Both China's and Russia's servicemen interacted smoothly, with full understanding of their common tasks," Interfax quoted Ivanov as telling Russian and Chinese journalists on 25 August, the last day of the exercises.
"The exercises confirm the strategic nature of relations between Russia and China along with the fact that qualitatively new relations are developing between Russia and China in the field of defence and security," ITAR-TASS quoted Ivanov as saying. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's goals "are being confirmed in practice", the minister said, referring to the Russia- and China- led alliance with Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Ivanov praised "the high expertise" of both sides in the exercises, ITAR-TASS said.
"The exercises have increased mutual understanding between the two countries' servicemen," RIA-Novosti quoted him as saying.
"The exercises demonstrated our comradeship and that we are strengthening our cooperation," Interfax-AVN quoted him saying.
Ivanov said the final results of the exercises will be assessed later. He along with his Chinese counterpart, Cao Gangchuan, awarded ten Russian and ten Chinese servicemen for their outstanding performance at the end of the exercises. Ivanov presented Chinese paratroopers with Russian Defence Ministry badges. The Chinese general gave the Russian servicemen watches with their names inscribed on them.
Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
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