Terrorism is one of the most profound challenges confronting the international community. Acts of violence not only disregard basic human rights but also have a direct effect on the socioeconomic development of all nations, with broad and far-reaching effects on global stability and growth. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) recently conducted its first joint anti-terrorism drill in China representing all member states, with experts stating that the large-scale exercise conducted the SCO’s determination and capabilities in tackling resurging threats from terrorism.
Relevant authorities from SCO member nations recently performed the Anti-terrorism Interaction-2024 joint exercise in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China Central Television (CCTV) noted. It marked the first time the appropriate authorities from all SCO member states have partaken in a joint anti-terrorism drill featuring live forces, CCTV stated.
With Belarus evolving as the 10th official member state earlier this month, the SCO has been entered by China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Targeting movements of terrorist organizations operating sabotage activities, the exercise set training courses including a special function on eliminating terrorist groups, CCTV reported.
Photos discharged with the report show that soldiers and police officers fully armed with attack rifles, pistols, and riot shields launching an attack, some via armoured and all-terrain vehicles and some via helicopter, with aerial drones and robot dogs also positioned in the exercise. The SCO had previously carried out several anti-terrorism exercises, but they were bilateral or multilateral and did not feature all member states.
The latest drill recalled that all SCO member states share a common insight into the threats posed by terrorism. Countries in Central, South and West Asia are all confronting terrorist threats from various origins, and Russia just mourned a concert hall terrorist attack in Moscow in March. China also encounters potential terrorist threats, and a renewal of terrorist activities has been heeded in other parts of the world such as Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Since terrorist threats frequently spill over to other countries and flow about the globe, the latest large-scale SCO exercise was maintained under the current situation to enhance the member states’ capabilities and interoperability in joint anti-terrorism operations.
In the face of challenges, governments have to boost their capability to oppose both traditional and nontraditional forms of terrorism. They should support and bolster their respective national safety and join hands to peacefully determine regional and global disputes, and help create new security means featuring dialogue rather than confrontation, cooperation rather than alliance, and win-win partnership rather than zero-sum games. Only in this way can international terrorism be eradicated.
