Law ratifying SCO Agreement on joint military exercises signed

.

14/10 Tass 211

MOSCOW, October 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
signed the Federal law on the ratification of the Agreement among the
member-states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on the holding of
joint military exercises that was adopted by the State Duma on September
25 and endorsed by the Federation Council on October 7, the Kremlin press
service reported on Wednesday.
The Agreement was signed in Bishkek on June 27, 2007.
The provisions of the Agreement regulate the questions of creating in
the context of international law the organizational basis for the
preparation and holding of joint military exercises in the SCO framework,
as well as interaction of units of the armed forces of the sides tasking
part in the preparation and holding of the exercises.
The Agreements regulates questions of temporary stay of the personnel
of military units and other units of the SCO member-states with their
armaments and military equipment on the territory of the host country. The
Agreement establishes the procedure of wearing arms and using means of
communication and telecommunication systems, means of transportation,
medical care, material and technical supply, as well as everyday and other
services for the personnel.
In addition, the Agreement regulates questions of jurisdiction of the
sides regarding the participants in the joint military exercises, defines
the procedure of military units and other units of the SCO states crossing
state and customs borders of the host country, the bringing into the
country and withdrawal of armaments, military equipment, assets and
service documents, the use of facilities of the infrastructure, means of
transportation and property and assets of the host country, restoration of
the damage caused and taxation.
The agreement also stipulates the procedure of the use of the airspace
of the host country, the arrangement of flights of planes and their
airfield and technical maintenance, as well as the procedure of the entry
of naval ships and auxiliary vessels of the sides into territorial seas,
internal waters and waterways of the host country.
The implementation of the Agreement will not require extra
expenditures from the Federal budget. The expenditures involved in the
holdings of joint military exercises will be covered from the funds
allocated in the federal budget for the upkeep of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation and internal troops of the Interior Ministry of the
Russian Federation.
The ratification of the Agreement meets the interests of the Russian
Federation, as it will help develop cooperation of the SCO member-states
in the interests of security.
-0-saf/usn