The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is not against cooperation of member countries with other states and associations, if not inconsistent with their obligations, RIA Novosti quoted the CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha as saying Friday, August 19.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of China reported that it has created a coordination mechanism with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan – the latter being a CSTO member – to combat terrorism.

Asked how he assesses the creation of this mechanism, Bordyuzha said: “Positively.”

“We’d like our member states to cooperate with all our neighbors in the military, law enforcement and political sectors,” he said.

“Our main principle is that all these relations with other countries, blocs and unions should in no way infringe upon a particular country’s obligations to its allies within the CSTO.”

The Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance that was signed on 15 May 1992. In 1992, six post-Soviet states belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States—Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—signed the Collective Security Treaty.