Beijing. October 30. INTERFAX - Russia is determined to continue military and military-technical cooperation with interested countries of the Asia-Pacific region, including the supply of military equipment and joint exercises, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday, speaking at the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum.
"We are determined to continue military and military-technical cooperation with interested states, including the supply and maintenance of military equipment, training, joint exercises, ship visits and other relevant events," Shoigu said, noting that events taking place in the world required Russia to adjust its foreign policy priorities, and a special place among them is the Asia-Pacific Region, with the states of which, due to the geographical location of the Russian Federation, "traditionally maintains close ties."
At the same time, he stressed that activities in the field of military-technical cooperation and in the military field with the states of the region "are carried out in strict accordance with national legislation and international norms and are not directed against third countries."
Shoigu noted that Russia is taking "consistent steps to increase cooperation with the states of Southeast Asia, the vast majority of which have not joined the anti-Russian sanctions, despite severe pressure from the United States and its satellites."
He called it important to strengthen the practical component in the work of the multilateral platforms formed around ASEAN, stressing that "Russia has already made a significant contribution to anti-terrorist cooperation within the framework of the Meeting of Defense Ministers of ASEAN Member States and Dialogue Partners (SMOA Plus) in 2020-2023."
At the end of September, Shoigu recalled, in the co-chairmanship with Myanmar, an international anti-terrorist exercise with the participation of military contingents of 12 countries "SMOA plus" was successfully conducted in the Russian Far East.
"It involved 643 military personnel from Brunei, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Russia, Thailand and the Philippines. Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the USA, South Korea and Japan refused to participate," Shoigu said.
He noted readiness "to further develop partnership as co-chair of the expert working group "SMOA plus" on humanitarian demining in 2024-2027 together with Laos."
Shoigu also said that the Russian side opposes "attempts by the pro-Western camp of SMA Plus to move away from the practical orientation of the mechanism's work and politicize its agenda by imposing human rights, gender and other non-core issues."
"We consider it necessary," he said, "to note the increasingly obvious role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the formation of a just multipolar world order based on the principles of unified and indivisible security and respect for the diversity of cultures."
The Russian Defense Minister stressed that the SCO's efforts "to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking, cross-border organized crime, as well as to ensure information security serve to maintain regional stability."
